


One of One

by zArkham



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Star Fleet Battles, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Multi, Rating: NC17, Sci-Fi Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 177,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23805088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zArkham/pseuds/zArkham
Summary: Just as the crew of the USS Voyager become embroiled in the war between the Borg Collective and Species 8472, a strange anomaly is detected on the Borg Cube where Captain Janeway is negotiating for the life of her crew and maybe for all life in the Delta Quadrant.Within that anomaly hides a centuries old secret. A being who found that resistance was not futile. A being who had been waiting for a moment like this to awaken and escape back to the Alpha Quadrant.
Comments: 42
Kudos: 109





	1. Memories

**Author's Note:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: “Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are own by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned the Amarillo Design Bureau who used that content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.
> 
> STORY NOTES: Obviously, an AU take on Star Trek: Voyager. However, this will be more so due to having to alter the timeline for many of the canonical Star Trek elements (i.e. the Eugenics War) to fit more in line with the Harry Potter timeline. Also, given the current (as of 2020) Covid-19 Pandemic as well as current trends in military hardware moving to robotics, I can see two trends forming with apologies to Civilization: Beyond Earth.
> 
> The first would be the Superiority faction which uses genetic manipulation to make humans adapt to the diseases (real and engineered) as well as be able to survive as Earth undergoes climate upheaval. They would have a “survival of the fittest” mentality and while wouldn’t want to exterminate ‘baseline’ humans, they would see them mostly as repositories of future DNA mutations. (How I feel mutants like Magneto should feel in the Marvel X-Men comics and as shown in my MCU fics) – In Star Trek canon, these would be the Augments. However, to me, that term feels like what you’d get if people were going a cybernetics and wetware route instead of genetic manipulation.
> 
> The second would be the Purity faction which would be quasi-religious in nature which strives for not only racial purity, but purity of the human genome. Obviously any Magicals and magical beings would be targeted by the Purity faction for both religious and genetic dogmatic reasons. From canon, COL Phillip Green would have been a Purity faction leader and Khan Noonien Singh would be a Superiority Leader.
> 
> Also, this fic owes a lot to Darth Marrs’ fic The Forever Mage and a bit to Invincible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: “Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are own by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned the Amarillo Design Bureau who used that content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STORY NOTES  
> * Star Trek vs. Harry Potter: This is (obviously) and AU take on Star Trek: Voyager. WARNING! It is still mostly a Harry Potter story in that he is often the main POV and the story revolves around him and his life. The reason this is listed as a ST/HP fic is almost all of this fic is in the Star Trek setting.  
> * Timeline Change: The canonical timeline of Star Trek is a mess with retcons and prequels mucking things up. For this story, to better coincide with Harry Potter and various elements which don’t make sense in the canon timeline, I’m bumping things like the Eugenics War to much latter. So instead of the Eugenic War ending in 1996 (and yet nothing of that to be seen in the Voyager episode set in 1996) it won’t start till around 2040 with the final nuclear war happening around 2060 or so. Also, sense this fic will end prior to the canonical end of Voyager, I will use some of the later episodes “out of sequence” for various reasons.  
> * Author’s Notes Are Your Friend: Please, please, please take a look at my author’s notes. I’m using a LOT of stuff from Star Trek going back to the Original Series and the board game Star Fleet Battles. For those who haven’t watched the early stuff (or even ST: TNG!!!!) it will help explain what you’re seeing. So again, please at least take a look at the author’s notes because I was an intelligence analyst for 15 years and so I’m trained to anticipate questions I know which are going to come up.  
> * Canon used: For the purposes of this fic, anything from ST: ENT, ST: DIS, ST: PIC and elements from the game Star Trek Online should be disregarded. Thus anything prior to the first ST: TOS episode and the last ST: VOY episode should be ignored.  
> * Acknowledgements: This fic owes a lot to Darth Marrs’ fic The Forever Mage and a bit to Invincible and Revenge of the Wizard. Also, to some degree, to A Captain and a Madman by RazielLordOfSquirrels

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“There are memories that time does not erase... Forever does not make loss forgettable, only bearable.”_ (City of Heavenly Fire) **Cassandra Claire** – American novelist & YA writer – 1973 – Present

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 01-17-2021

 **Related Episode:** Prelude to **Scorpion Part 1**

“ _Are you sure about this, Luna? Harry asked quietly as he dropped the report to his lap._

“ _Sure? Can anyone be sure about the future? What I can say is that by around 2060 or so, that most magical species will be extinct and the rest will soon follow. Magic breeds magic, Harry. It is_ _one of the reasons of the general decline in magic seen throughout the ages. The fewer plants, animals, beings and witches and wizards there are, the less Magic there is to sustain them.”_

“ _Use it or lose it,” Harry said with a tired sigh._

“ _Exactly. Our future, the future of everyone on Earth, is in terrible danger. However, the rest of life on Earth will survive. Diminished, changed, scarred and less than it what was before. The same will not be true for us. The 22_ _nd_ _Century will see an Earth bereft of magic. The seers are in agreement. The omens are there and the centaurs have stated they cannot see the stars past around 2150.”_

“ _So we’re all going to die?” Harry asked. “I can’t accept that, Luna.”_

“ _Your acceptance is not relevant to our coming extinction, I am afraid, Harry,” Luna said sadly._

“ _We’ll see about that!” Harry snarled as he crumpled the report in his fist and stalked out of the room._

**XxXxX**

**BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50903.8**

One exited the Collective data stream. As always, One spent almost a quarter of a work cycle ensuring its digital tracks were covered. One’s diligence was the primary reason that the Borg had not detected the stowaway. That in One’s case, resistance had not been futile. Or One had only appeared to have been assimilated but actually had escaped to begin the long game of hide-and-seek which had stretched to over two centuries.

One had a fleeing memory. A passing image of a rat hiding away, waiting, surviving. One banished it down the pit where all such memories or images were locked away. One had found that such things made life uncomfortable; distracted One from the constant vigilance needed in the face of the awesome power of the Borg Collective.

With the image gone, One began to sift through the data it had collected. Only two items were of note. The cube’s drone rotation had been moved up. Even more interesting was many of the new drones listed to be brought onboard were from the Alpha Quadrant.

As always, One was suspicious of such transfers. Over the decades, One had stolen 20 drones from the various races of the Alpha Quadrant. All but two were sleeping in stasis while two were still in the adapted maturation chambers One had repurposed to remove Borg technology and regrow the flesh and organs lost to assimilation.

One was always worried the Borg were sending Alpha Quadrant drones to the cube to catch One. Even if there had been no indications of such. Indeed, One was often surprised that after many early attempts at tracking One, the Collective seemed to ignore its actions. One did not let this seeming peace affect the constant vigilance practiced.

Still, this transfer seemed more tied to a major rotational disruption due to the second item that had caught One’s attention. The Borg were almost finished constructing portals into what had been dubbed Fluidic Space. There were indications that there were highly advanced technologies along with rich biodiversity in this Fluidic Space. So much so that it was deemed a reason enough to let current assimilation works in the Delta and Gamma Quadrant lapse.

One cared not. Only drones from the Alpha Quadrant mattered.

Before turning away from the data to enter into a dark phase to help mask One’s presence, it reviewed the data on the two Federation starships in the Quadrant. The USS Equinox was still far from any Borg ships or planets. USS Voyager, however, was rapidly closing on Borg space. One was certain it was only a matter of time before it was assimilated. Unless Cube 10100110100 was the ship to do the task of assimilation, there was little One could do but mourn more individuals lost to the hungry maw of the Borg.

**XxXxX**

“ _You can’t be serious, Harry!” Hermione said, “Do you have any idea of the scope of what you’re proposing?”_

_Harry eyes were cold as he stared at Hermione for a moment before replying, “2160, Hermione. It’s rushing up at us like a wall. I don’t care if you think all the divination evidence is bunk, Hermione. However, there is plenty of regular signs that things are going to shit. The climate is changing, the oceans are filled with micro-plastic and normal species are going extinct. On top of that, we’re starting to see more diseases. We haven’t had a full-on pandemic yet but it’s only a matter of time. That in itself is pushing the Superiority factions around the world to go further, break the rules and push the science. And with every breakthrough, the Purity faction grows bolder. Beyond war between those two factions is the general war which is coming. Bloody hell, Hermione! I’ve read the Pentagon report about climate change. We’re talking refugees in the millions! Fights for clean water and other resources that go from being natural to being strategic. Bad, bad days are coming._

“ _And your answer is to run?” Hermione asked archly. “Where is the Gryffindor I fought Voldemort with?”_

“ _He died, Hermione. He went into the forest and let Voldemort kill him,” Harry said coldly. “He died so you all could have a chance. I was the one who came back. And right now, I’m not going to let a magical hat created over 500 years ago dictate my actions. Our families, our friends, our people and all of the Magical world will be gone before the next century dawns. Now if you want to ignore the signs and pretend everything is fine like a modern-day Fudge, be my guest. But I am not going to go quietly into the camps or die in nuclear fire. Right now, you need to remember back to when you were eleven and McGonagall destroyed your world with that first bit of magic. Because we need that shift in thinking._ _ **I**_ _need that shift in that thinking because I can’t see pulling this off without your brains.”_

**XxXxX**

**BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50960.3**

One watched through the cube’s security back-up system as the drone transfers were completed. Given most of the ship was, in some form or another, connected to the cube’s drones, the back-up system was only used if the cube was seriously damaged. This allowed One a cube-wide surveillance system which was rarely used by the Collective. Indeed this back-up system had not been upgraded in the last 4,692 cycles. While it could be improved on, the Collective did not feel it worth the resources for a system used mostly by cubes which did not survive whatever had damaged them in the first place.

One of the drones, a Seven of Nine, intrigued One. She was a centurion drone, that was clear. Yet why was she Seven of Nine? Beyond the current group number was sixteen, her unit was merely four. So what unit was she Seven of? Her centurion rank was not overt in the code all Borg used for inter-drone communication but One could easily see it. The Borg had no need for internal affairs so this Seven of Nine could not be on the cube for an inspection as normal races might do. The Collective knew what it put its mind to. Any centurion drone or above could focus enough of the Collective onto this Cube to divine almost anything, as well as potentially finding One and its domain. Thus Seven’s secret rank made no sense. The only other oddity (if it could be called such) that One could find was Seven had been assimilated young and spent many cycles in a maturation chamber. Yet there were billions of such drones throughout Borg space.

One made a point of ensuring all of its resources were monitoring Seven if only for the novelty and mystery she brought. Such things were treasured by One as boredom only brought memories and images up from the pit to distract One from its needed vigilance.

**XxXxX**

_The Absolute Mugwump’s face might as well been carved from stone. “This body reiterates its final decisions, Mr. Potter. Your plan is reckless, unproven and we believe unneeded. Any further action by your Order of the Phoenix will be met with force. We expect you and your followers to abide by the ICW’s decision.”_

_Harry looked up at the triumvirate who glowered down upon him. Harry almost felt he was a teen again with the Wizengamot looking down at him. However, he was no scared boy worried he was about to be expelled. Now he was a wizard on a mission._

“ _Very well. However, I will not have history show me to be a zealot. I am going to do something against my better judgment. I’m going to give you one last chance. For you see, while you are called the Absolute Mugwump, you do not have absolute power. In fact, your power, our power has been becoming eclipsed by the Muggles year after year. We exist, for now, because we’ve managed to keep secret from a new version of Inquisitors. The seers have seen what they will do before the fire takes us. You cannot save us from them.”_

_The Absolute Mugwump sighed as the Archivist made a dismissive gesture, “These supposed new Inquisitors are of no concern to us. We remain hidden from them as we always have and will. You cannot scare the ICW with your supposed bogey-men.” She turned to her fellows, “He is delusional. I recommend we arrest him now and save us later trouble.”_

“ _Sadly, my Lady Archivist, you do not have the army you’d need to do so. I, on the other hand, remembered to bring an army.” Harry said before making a grand gesture. This was answered with an explosion and gunfire._

_**OoOoO** _

“ _I wish there was some way I could convince you to stay, my friend,” Khan said as he watched Potter’s Phoenix team cart away the captured Magicals._

_Harry turned and frowned, “I’m not your friend Khan. You’re a tyrant and a butcher. The blood on your hands will only get worse. But at least you’re an honest butcher. You don’t pretty up your actions with deceit and use words from religious books written centuries ago. No, at least your survival of the fittest recognizes that even the most lowly has a place. I don’t like it, but at least if you win, you won’t be sending people into camps because they are the wrong race or don’t worship the correct god or have some wetware in their body.”_

_Khan’s laugh was rich like smooth, Corinthian leather, “And that is why I will miss you. Sycophants and fanatically loyal minions are who I am surrounded by. Sadly, the one person I could probably relate the best with would be the likes of that bastard Colonel Green. Still, I appreciate the sentiment. I know history will not be kind to me even if I save humanity from itself. But like you, those who have the eyes to see cannot afford half measures.”_

_Harry nodded at this. He’d been burning bridges for years now. This attack on the ICW was one of the last._

_Khan sighed, “I hope they never forget their savior. It would be easy to believe that they won’t but alas, we both know how fickle the hearts of men are. Even as you save them and their world, there will be those that will take any discomfort, any malady or disaster as proof you were the villain in the end.”_

_Harry shook his head, “I don’t care. I died and came back for them. Because I’d been primed to. If they cast me as Satan the Betrayer rather than this quasi-Jesus savior figure I’ve been stuck with since the end of the War...well I’m okay with that. They have to be alive to hate me.”_

_Khan clasped Harry on the shoulder, “Well I shall take my leave of you. Even as you say that the tissues samples and the like you gave will do little for us, I feel that the study will advance our understanding and that itself is a worthy goal. Your people and world have been survivors. I am honored to have assisted in continuing that survival.”_

_Harry shook the Superiority leader’s hand, “And I am honored that you did not listen to your advisors. Now that the likes of Colonel Green knows of us, my people fighting them would have been a huge distraction for you to take advantage of.”_

_Khan made a face, “I would dishonor my ancestors and my creed if my victory over the likes of Green came while he was slaughtering your people. My forces and I will meet him on the field of battle and he and the rest of his backward-thinking zealots will be killed in honorable battle.”_

_Harry merely nodded at this. He felt the upcoming war would have nothing honorable about it but without Khan’s help, his plan would not have been possible. Just as he was willing to be the villain in order to save his people, he could put up with a monster in the form of Khan Noonien Singh for a few hours._

**XxXxX**

**BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50980.5**

Alerts, distress calls, loss reports and silence where there used to be thousands of voices filled the data stream. Species 8472 had not submitted to assimilation. Unlike most races that the Borg had encountered, they had not only fought off assimilation, their resistance was turning the tables upon the previously unstoppable Collective.

One felt it cascade over him…him. Why did One still think of itself as him? One and been One for so long. Still, there was a core to One that had never given in. Never had allowed the Collective to steal that element that had made One unique. For One had been unique before the Borg had tried to assimilate him so long ago.

Yes. One had been a him. One still was a him. No matter how deep he was buried under all the Borg tech, the Chosen One was still there; hidden, passive, waiting. Only when certain factors came within One’s range was there action. Slowly, over the years, One had diverted cube resources to his domain. From there all of the drones One had taken could have their connection to the Collective severed. Drones who even now slumbered for the day they could be saved from their nanotech slavery.

Yet One never forgot that this control over ‘his’ domain was an illusion. The Borg simply did not see the efficiency of removing the One’s realm. It was a small area of one cube: barely more than a blip in a maintenance report. All it would take was one change in the Collective’s priorities and they would fall upon One’s sanctum. This had been a concern for centuries. Now, however, One could tell the Collective had far more important things to deal with than a slight imperfection on one of the thousands of Borg Cubes flying throughout the galaxy.

The One sifted through the data, mulled the continuing mystery that was Seven of Nine and took note that Voyager had been scanned while it obviously was trying to sneak through Borg space. She was close. Perhaps the winds of war might blow cube and starship together so One might keep Voyager and her crew from what One had felt was an inevitable fate of becoming drones.

**XxXxX**

_The strain was incredible. Harry felt if every last piece of magic was being forced through him and into the portal. Yet it was almost done. For hours, witches, wizards both young and old and made the transit. Giants, goblins, centaurs all went through the Portal held open by Harry. Harry, the Chosen One, the Master of Death. The Hallows had been the key. Being their master had meant that Harry himself was the key._

_Harry barely noticed the huge containers which could have held anything from magical plants to dragons. They all were up-scaled versions of the venerable beaded bag Hermione had used back when they trekked across England searching for horcruxes. Nor did the troops of Khan’s allies guarding the transfer register anymore. The transfer took more and more of his focus the longer it lasted._

_Finally the strain was beginning to become too much for him, Harry finally realized someone was calling his name. He opened his eyes to see his extended family and friends. As one they gave him a salute and went through the portal leaving only Ginny, Luna and Hermione._

_Luna kissed him, “Thank you for believing in me when no one else would.” She leaned closer and whispered in his ear, “I wish I had been braver and taken a chance that maybe I could have been more than ‘just friends’ after our Slug Club date.”_

_She turned and was swallowed by the portal._

_Ginny simply starred at him. She had barely spoken to him since he’d started this journey. For all that she had loved the idea of him being the hero, now that he was the father of their children, she had had a hard time dealing with the consequences of Harry being the hero this last time._

_She finally came up and kissed him and then turned without another word and went through the portal._

“ _And so here we are. And I find myself wishing we could have one more dance,” Hermione finally said._

_Even with the strain, Harry chuckled, “Because that worked out so well last time!”_

_Hermione’s eyes were filled with tears. “When things die down and we are settled among the Fae, I’m not going to lie anymore. Rose needs to know her father was the Hero that save them all. Not the man who tried to help stop all this.”_

_Harry managed to shake his head, “Don’t make Ron a villain, Hermione. He and all the rest may have acted out of fear, but I always knew I was asking everyone to believe in a miracle.”_

_Hermione closed and kissed him passionately, “You’ve always been a miracle, Harry. I promise you; I will devote my life to ensuring your real story is_ _**never** _ _forgotten.”_

_Harry grimaced as the pain was becoming too much, “You need to go, Hermione. Just remember, that this is why I think the Hallows were created. I am not the Master of Death. I am just allowing all of you to survive. There can be no death without life. So go, survive, thrive and with each new life, a new death is ensured. I didn’t want to admit it, but I am the Chosen One. Defeating Voldemort was only a stepping-stone to put me into position for this moment.”_

_Hermione looked stricken but nodded and rushed towards the portal. Right before she entered, she turned, “I love you Harry James Potter; I always have.”_

_Harry nodded as his whole body felt like it was about to catch fire, “As I you, Hermione. Look after them, Hermione. They will need a new Chosen One to sort out their new life. Do for them what you have always, since that First Year, did for me!”_

_Hermione nodded curtly and with tears streaming down her face, leapt through the portal._

_With a groan, Harry released his grip on the magicks coursing through him. In an instant, the fiery portal disappeared as if it had never existed. One moment fire, the next a day like any other._

_Harry already felt diminished. The magic of the world was fading like water down a drain. Harry wondered, after years of using glamours to hide his lack of aging since the day he’d faced down Voldemort, would he now finally age?_

_Harry sighed, even if this were to happen, he realized the chance of dying of old age was slim given the future the seers had seen. Harry looked back to where everything he cared about disappeared to. Even if he was still immortal, what did he have to live for now? Death by nuclear fire would at least be quick and he’d finally be reunited with all those he’d lost along the way._

**XxXxX**

**Author’s Notes** : Given the positive reception to this in my Pernicious Story Bunnies on Fanfiction.net, I figured I could expand it. I find that given I’ve watch Star Trek Voyager a lot, I don’t need that much in the way of research. Indeed the Memory Core Alpha website breaks down each episode enough that I really don’t have to watch them again.

 **Timeline** : That being said, I’ve already noticed that a LOT of Season Four is just going to up and not happen. Beyond changes Harry and the new drones bring, there is the fact that Voyager is going to take a different route to get to the Equinox. To make this work, I might have to have Voyager encounter the network shown in Dragonteeth earlier even as that specific episode (if I use it) would still happen a bit later.

 **Ongoing Fic** : On nice thing about a fanfic like this is there is always an easy way to end it. For whatever reason, anything that gets them back to the Alpha Quadrant ends the fic. Just like the real show, they could have kept cranking out episodes for a long time if they had wanted. Likewise, I can do the same. Right now, out of all the episodes, I only have one major thing that has to happen as it ties into a further meaning of what it means to be the “master” of the Deathly Hallows.

 **Ships & the Like**: I’d be interested in hearing people’s thoughts on this. (Please PM me for you don’t really need to clutter up my reviews unless you want others to see your views and want to give their yea or nay on it) Obviously, the Day of Honor, set 3 days (supposedly) after the end of The Gift isn’t going to happen. First, I think with new people and new opportunities, this creates some possible conflict I can exploit between B’Elanna and Tom. Not saying they won’t ship, but I don’t have to throw them together on the canonical timeline. Then there are the previous drones. What will they do now that they’re back to their own selves BUT have been linked to the concepts, ideals, motivations and experiences of all the races in the Collective? I scoff at people who feel that the sexual tension between Seven of Nine and Captain Janeway couldn’t be real or ZOMG! Seven may be interested in a woman in Picard. Given her long-time in the Collective, I could see her having a long relationship with that woman from Picard, Seven’s smart house and Horta.


	2. Scorpion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out chapter notes for Chapter 4 on changes to Starfleet ranks. Also, some characters ranks have been changes. Specifically B’Elanna Torres is a Lt. Commander given she is chief of engineering.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“Victory comes from finding opportunities in problems.”_ **Sun Tzu** – Chinese general/strategist, writer and philosopher – 544-496

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 01-17-2021

**Related** **Episodes: Scorpion Part 1** and elements of **Part 2)**

**BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50983.2**

The situation was changing faster than One or the Borg could adequately manage. Species 8472’s bioships were powerful and so took advantage of a flaw in the Borg Collective methodology. The Collective had always relied on adapting to threats. Even in the early days, the Borg saw the loss of ships as just part of the process of eventual assimilation. This had mostly worked for them given it was rare than any race could destroy a Cube quickly. Even rarer was to not be able to beam information back regarding how it was destroyed. Thus, the Collective had always had the time to adapt.

Species 8472 was not giving the Collective that time.

A saying filtered up like a ghost in One’s mind. One shot; one kill. The Borg simply weren’t given the time they needed to adapt to the radically different biology of the being from Fluidic Space. So far, the only sure way to destroy a bioship was ramming it with a Cube. However, the Borg could scarcely afford to continue using this technique.

Like a virus (oh the irony) Species 8472 began to spread through Borg space, leaving shattered Cubes and planets with a cracked crust and an atmosphere on fire. In an even more ironic twist, a ray of hope for the Collective had appeared. For all the might and collective knowledge of the Borg, the answer was on board the very ship One was desperate to save.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50984.3**

Captain Janeway look over Senior Lieutenant Tridiva Mohindra’s shoulder at the data displayed over the various monitors of the science station, “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know, captain,” SLT Mohindra agreed. “Every previous incidence of a Federation ship being scanned by the Borg ended up with all the data being copied. I’m at loss as to why the Doctor’s nanoprobe weaponization program wasn’t taken.”

Janeway frowned and shook her head as she turned to return to her command chair. As she sat down, Commander Chakotay was rubbing his chin in thought, “You know, _Voyager_ is one of the newest ships in the Federation and the only one with neuro gel-packs. Not to mention, we’ve had to do a fair bit of modifications along the way.”

“An astute point, commander,” Lieutenant Commander Tuvok said with a hint of admiration. “I further surmise that given the Borg were unable to abscond with such data, they very well may believe it is kept directly in the Doctor’s mobile emitter. Given its 29th Century technology, the Borg would require a considerable amount of time to adapt to acquire data from it. This, of course, does point to their next likely avenue of approach.”

Janeway nodded, “There is certainly plenty of information in the data they did take which references the Doctor’s emitter. I see where you’re going.” She touched her comm-badge. “Doctor? Tuvok is going to tie a series of protocols to Sick Bay and your mobile emitter. We believe the Borg might believe the nanoprobe data is stored in your mobile emitter. We want to make them think we can destroy that with a flick of a switch so they don’t board us.”

“Understood, captain. A wise move,” came the Doctor’s voice.

“How’s Harry, doctor?” Janeway asked.

“The treatment seems to have arrested the spread for now, Captain. However, I simply do not have the nanoprobes to do more. I am afraid without Borg supplying us with more nanoprobes, Mr. Kim will probably not last another few days,” the Doctor replied.

Janeway looked grim, “Understood. Thank you, Doctor. Janeway out.”

“The Borg aren’t likely to want to spare any given the needs to develop the weapon,” Chakotay said quietly. “One of our ‘drones’ is insignificant to them.”

“And I doubt we have enough leverage to push things,” Janeway said with a sigh.

“We’re pushing way beyond our weight class as it is,” Chakotay agreed.

“Well if opportunity doesn’t knock, we’ll just have to build a door and hope,” Janeway said, her mouth a thin line of determination.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50985.6**

Reviewing the data gleaned from Voyager, One would have smiled if it were possible. The organic component to One had it had been locked in place, barely alive. Air, food trickled in through makeshift intubations, wastes removed the same way. Without movement, without light, almost without hope, One had endured. Now One would be hard-pressed to locate its his organics. While the drones One had rescued were in modified maturation chambers which now acted as stasis pods, One didn’t have that luxury. One had had to literally build from scratch a way to keep alive to form around him. One was almost more a part of the ship than a separate entity. Even though One’s domain now encompassed an area of a small ship, it might as well be One’s body. Only the recovered sentients were apart from what One considered itself.

Banishing such needless thoughts, One went back to the data. It was a testament to how much Species 8472 had rattled the Collective that they fell for One’s trick of masking _Voyager’s_ sick bay database. If the Collective was even slightly less panicked, it would have easily seen through One’s masking of the data they so desperately sought to be, instead, a waste management system database. It seemed even the mighty Borg Collective had little interest in touching organic wastes even if only the data about it!

One was even more gratified to see that _Voyager’s_ crew had picked up and ran with the opportunity. Again, the calamity emanating from Fluidic Space was causing the Borg to take atypical actions. The 29th Century mobile hologram emitter would normally be of the highest priority to assimilate, but the Borg didn’t dare attempt it for the fear that _Voyager’s_ captain would destroy the emitter and the nanoprobe weapon schematics with it.

Through the security system, One watched as Captain Janeway fenced with Seven of Nine. _Voyager’s_ captain was as cunning as a Slytherin and as brave as a Gryffindor.

One’s entire being stuttered for a moment. Why had One had such thoughts? After a quick self-diagnostic, One did the digital equivalent of a shrug and went back to monitoring the on-going situation.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50985.7**

CDR Chakotay pointed at the screen, “There! What do you make of that Mohindra? Tuvok?” The Cube that Captain Janeway was on had an odd section at one of the corner points. It was a slightly different color and didn't have many of the exterior light sources the rest of the Cube had.

SLT Mohindra worked the science section panel. A minute passed and then another. Finally, she gave a small shake of her head, “I cannot be certain, Commander. It is certainly an anomaly we have never seen before.”

Chakotay turned to the tactical station, “Tuvok?”

The Vulcan shook his head, “While Borg, Commander, it appears as if that section may have been added later to cover battle damage which could not be readily repaired. Even so, there does seem to be a subtle difference to it. Curious. Given how the Borg ships could be said to be almost alive, it is tempting to say that section could almost represents a tumor.”

Junior Lieutenant Tom Paris gave a startled snort of mirth, “The Cube has a wart?”

“Could it be a danger to the captain, Tuvok?” Chakotay asked.

LCDR Tuvok shook his head, “Unknown. However, the energy levels and bio-energy readings of that part of the Cube are markedly lower than the rest of the ship. I do not believe there is a danger. I also do not believe it is a threat. If it were, I am confident the Borg would have excised that section of the ship. That they have not would imply it has a purpose or it is not worth dealing with.”

“Well we all know the Borg will let you walk right by them if they aren't on an assimilation mission,” Ensign Lyssa Campbell pointed out from the ops station. “It's not impossible to think that they simply don't care enough right now. With this Species 8472 blowing up entire Borg armadas, I'm betting they have more important things on their Collective mind right now.”

Chakotay nodded, “Good point, Lyssa. Like everything else, I want science and tactical to keep an eye on things. I'm sure it's probably a rare anomaly but it might be common for Borg Cubes in the Delta quadrant to have. That they brought Captain Janeway to that specific Cube is probably a good indicator it has a purpose or it's benign.”

“Now that would be a change in our luck,” Paris muttered under his breath.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**BORG CUBE 10100110100, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50986.3**

The One had to act quickly. Species 8472 had already destroyed the planet and were in pursuit of the trio of Cubes. It was obvious the only course of action for the Borg was to sacrifice their ships to destroy the bioships menacing _Voyager_. The One initiated exfiltration protocols it had laid out centuries ago when the Cube had still been in the outer regions of the Alpha Quadrant. The One had been refining these protocols ever since.

The One dipped into the Collective just long enough to see that the previous subtle 'suggestion' that Seven of Nine and selected other drones had indeed been assigned to _Voyager_ regardless of the cost. One had been trying to grab these drones ever since they had been transferred 17 cycles ago. He had to be cautious given One had been subverting the Collective to save various drones only from Alpha Quadrant races.

One was almost certain that the tracks used to steal these drones would be seen as normal deactivations. Still, One had not lived as long hiding from the Collective as he had by not being careful. So many Alpha Quadrant races in one drone transfer had been suspicious. Still, with Species 8472 rampaging through Borg space, One felt confident to be a bit more overt in his manipulations of orders coming in from Unimatrix 01.

Still, these new drones would take time to heal once One had access to them. It would take time to get them to the level as recovered as the drones he had in stasis. Most were completely free of Borg tech. Even so, One had kept various things in each body. Most were to help promote general health but mostly to help prevent re-assimilation. Initial tests were promising but One was loathed to do full tests given a failure would increase the risk of the Collective reestablishing the link and uncovering him.

Seven of Nine would be the biggest problem. One had never had a chance to examine any Neo-natal drone or one assimilated at such a young age. Still, One felt that between his capabilities and the startling efficiency of _Voyager's_ EMH, she could be pulled from the Borg. She undoubtedly would resist but One knew it would be for the best.

As expected, two of the Cubes intercepted the approaching bioships and detonated. Unfortunately, one bioship was able to escape. One might not have the full speed of the Collective at his disposal, but One was easily able to calculate the odds. The Borg had only one hope of protecting the nanoprobe weapon technology CPT Janeway offered.

One initiated separation protocols. The "wart" as JLT Paris had likened it as, disengaged from where it had been growing for centuries and shot towards _Voyager._ Right before the link to the Cube was severed, One saw that Seven of Nine and her team of drones along with CPT Janeway had been beamed to _Voyager_.

As One's realm (it could hardly be called a vessel) attached to _Voyager's_ hull, the Borg Cube that had been One's unwilling home for so long turned and made a suicide run on the remaining bioship. In a tremendous explosion, Voyager was alone for the time being along with its newest passengers.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50986.4**

“Report!” CPT Kathryn Janeway asked almost the instant the turbo-lift door opened.

Chakotay turned from the screen which was showing a schematic of the 'tumor' that now was on Voyager. “We had previously noticed an anomaly embedded in the Borg Cube you were beamed to. We could not ascertain its function other than it was a probable battle damage patch. However, Tuvok felt it could be the Borg version of a tumor. Lyssa made a good point about it could be something which happens to the Borg but isn't, at this time, worth dealing with.”

Janeway walked closer to the monitor, “Well I agree with Ensign Campbell. The Borg certainly have bigger issues to deal with. However, now whatever that is is our problem. What do we know so far?”

SLT Mohindra manipulated her science station controls to alter the image on the monitor. “We know the Borg beamed a group of drones along with equipment into Cargo Bay 2. Security teams have stated that drone, Seven of Nine is with them. They appear to be continuing work on the prototype torpedo designs we gave them. They stated Seven of Nine is requesting your presence.”

Janeway nodded, “Makes sense. The Collective needs that technology and needs it yesterday. So, what's the story with what's on our hull?”

SLT Mohindra shook her head with a frown, “I wish I had more to tell you, Captain. Whatever it is, it certainly has attached itself to the hull. It is drawing some power from our engines but Commander Torres has already found the object is actually generating energy to help enhance ship-wide hull integrity fields. There seems to be no contact between the object and the drones in Cargo Bay 2.”

Janeway turned to Chakotay, “It never rains but it pours in the Delta Quadrant. Thoughts?”

Chakotay gestured towards Tuvok, “I'm wondering if Tuvok might have been closer to the mark than he realized. Maybe this 'tumor' is some mutation or defect in the Collective. Or even a parasite or symbiotes that works with the cybernetic nature of the Borg. We all get viruses, parasites and the like. Maybe Borg perfection isn't as complete as they'd like to portray. Obviously whatever that thing is, it knew enough to jump from one host to another.”

Janeway stroked her chin, “Well let us hope that it stays more of a symbiote than a parasite. That it's helping with keeping hull integrity up is promising.”

Chakotay sighed, “Plus if it was truly Borg, half of _Voyager_ would have been converted by now.”

An alert from Tuvok's tactical station had all head's turn toward the Vulcan. A brief confirmation before Tuvok looked up, “We've had another unauthorized transporter incident. Source unknown but the target was Sick-Bay.”

Almost as if on cue, another alert chimed, “Sick Bay to the Bridge!”

Janeway touched her comm badge, “Go ahead, Doctor. We just registered a beam-in to your position. Status?”

The EMH responded with obvious tension in its simulated voice, “Captain, I am at a loss. One moment everything is fine and then the next moment security force-fields went to standby. Then four unconscious sentients were beamed in. Then four Level 10 force-fields went up around them. However, I've already found that I'm in control of those fields.”

“These sentients? What can you tell us?” Janeway asked

The Doctor's response was quick, “Right now I can tell you that three are human and the other is an Andorian. I'll know more as my scans are completed.”

“Doctor, I'm coming down,” Janeway said before cutting off the comm. “Tuvok, you're with me. I want a security team to meet us. We need to go have a chat with Seven of Nine. After that, we can check up on what the hell is going on in Sick Bay.”

**OoOoO**

Janeway shook her head as she looked down at the sleeping woman on the medical bed, “It's unbelievable!”

The Doctor made a face that showed he agreed, “So far the readings have been clear. This is Ensign Trina Mortley. She was presumed lost along with her ship, the _USS Gagarin_ , sometime around Star Date 2160.”

“She seems remarkably well preserved for someone almost two hundred years old,” Tuvok commented dryly.

The Doctor nodded, “While I can tell she has been under some form of temporal stasis for a number of years. However, the most likely reason for her lack of age is that she was a Borg drone for an indeterminate number of years.”

Janeway looked back to the brunette woman still under sedation, “Are you sure Doctor?”

The EMH nodded again, this time more emphatically, “Positive, Captain.” He brought up an image of the woman internal structure. “As you can see, I've highlighted areas where her tissue has been regrown. Whether this as through clone skin grafts or some form of reactivating the body to regrow the lost areas, I am uncertain. I'm sure you can see how those areas mimic known patterns of prosthetic on Borg drones. I also know she, and the other three here, still have varying traces of Borg technology in them.”

The four security officers of Tuvok's all noticeably tensed and grasped their phaser rifles tighter. Janeway, however, kept looking at the various screens. She pointed to the scans of the other two humans, “They don’t look like they have much more than some nanites. Yet Mortley and the Andorian still have quite a bit of tech left. Your thoughts, Doctor?”

The Doctor looked unsure, “I believe the issue is how long ago they were assimilated. In Ensign Mortley’s case, she was assimilated a very long time ago. I conjecture that whoever or whatever pulled her from the Borg could not totally undue what was done to her. On the other hand, the nanites in all four of them seem to be for general health maintenance.”

Janeway tapped one of the screens, “The distribution of these nanites might imply some form of anti-assimilation screen from the looks of it.”

The Doctor nodded, “I had similar thoughts. However, I can't be sure at this early stage without actually injecting live Borg nanoprobes to find out.” The Doctor made a face, “Obviously a method that is out of the question.”

Janeway turned to look at the other three sentients on the medical beds, “So no luck on identifying the rest?”

Tuvok shook his head, “Not yet, captain. However, given Ensign Mortley is as old as she is, it may take more time to dig through the older databases. It is possible, however, that without waking them, finding their identity might prove impossible. The _USS Gagarin_ had been on a very long-range survey mission, long-range for that time period that is, when she disappeared. It is likely the rest of these sentients were likewise assimilated far away from the body of the Federation.”

Janeway nodded slowly, "That makes sense. Even after Q played around with the _Enterprise_ , it was still a few more years till we made first contact with the Borg in the Alpha Quadrant.

“The appearance of these four begs the question of why? I do not believe it is coincidence that they were beamed to Voyager so shortly after the Borg Anomaly attached itself to the hull. It is also the only unknown area within transporter range to be beamed from,” Tuvok pointed out. “Also, we are in the Delta Quadrant yet here are four presumably former drones all from the Alpha Quadrant. That seems unlikely.”

“Yes. I did take note that all of the team with Seven of Nine, to include her, are from the Alpha Quadrant. I'm wondering if that was by design?” Janeway asked.

“Or maybe whoever is controlling the Anomaly might have been manipulating which drones where selected for the mission. Maybe some rogue drone was able to somehow reconnect with its previous self and has been working to free other drones. It might explain why the Anomaly jumped to _Voyager_ beyond wanting to survive,” The Doctor mused.

Janeway made a face, “Doctor, start waking them up when you feel it is safe to do so. We need answers. Even if they don't know anything, I want to clear this issue away. Our tenuous alliance with the Borg needs our utmost attention.”

**XxXxX**

  
  


**CARGO BAY 2, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 50986.8**

“It is insignificant and should be ignored. We have lost too much time as it is. Species 8472 is continuing its attack throughout the Sector. Every hour we lose here to pointless speculation raises the count of deaths which are on your hands, Captain Janeway,” Seven of Nine said in the dispassionate voice that still was filled with emotion one would not expect from a drone.

“It's attached to my ship without invitation, much like your team and gear here. Everyone, to include you and your drones are my responsibility. I am the one who makes the decision on what is ignored or not,” Janeway said cuttingly.

“We do not have any more information on the anomaly than we have previously given you. All of these former drones were all logged lost for various reasons. None of which were out of the ordinary,” Seven responded haughtily.

Janeway frowned. It was amazing how high and mighty Seven could seem even as she knew the Collective was frantically flailing around for any way to stem their losses. That _Voyager_ had not been assimilated before or an attempt made since showed how flummoxed the Collective was. “Still, we find it odd that all of these former drones are all from the Alpha Quadrant. Twenty different beings ranging from centuries to only a few decades ago. You don't find that odd? Or the fact that you yourself and the drones in this bay are all from the Alpha Quadrant? I think this isn't as insignificant as you'd have us believe.”

Seven of Nine's face went stony, “What you believe is irrelevant. Only the weapon should be the priority. Without it, _Voyager_ will soon lose the protection of the Borg. We have already lost a significant number of Cubes in defense of this vessel as well as in diversionary attacks to draw the enemy away from this location.”

Janeway raised a hand, “Fair enough. Show me what is the next step in our process?”

**OoOoO**

Janeway entered Sick Bay to find a team working to help the latest group of former drones. Over last few hours, every time the medical beds had been emptied, four new sentients had been beamed over. So far, twenty had been beamed over before transports ended. However, the most worrying thing had been that ENS Kim, who was still suffering from the effects of the attack he suffered on the remains of the Borg Cube at the hands of Species 8472, had been beamed away.

“Any news Doctor?” Janeway asked

The EMH shook his holographic head, “I'm afraid not. However, Tuvok found that prior to Ensign Kim being transported away, Sick Bay was scanned by a targeted Borg polaron beam. I am hoping that whoever or whatever is on that anomaly took Ensign Kim to treat him.”

Janeway blinked at this, “Why do you say that, Doctor? That's a huge leap to make.”

“I know, Captain. But we know that the Borg can read out almost everything from our data banks with their scans. Why the previous Cube had been unable to do so is not something I can comment on. I can say that with this Borg whatever it is on our hull, it penetrated into the data base with ease,” the Doctor explained.

Janeway nodded, “Go on.”

The Doctor gestured to the two Klingons who were in the last batch beamed in. LCDR Torres was speaking trying to bring them up to speed. “These former drones had to have almost all of their Borg tech taken from them. Obviously, it didn't just vanish. The largest roadblock we've had is synthesizing enough nanoprobes to not only create a weapon to defeat Species 8472, but also make a cure for Ensign Kim. I believe that whatever took him, has nanoprobes aplenty and will use them to cure him.”

Janeway looked at the displays on the wall which had various internal images of many of the former drones. The Doctor was right. The amount of Borg tech taken from these former Alpha Quadrant natives was considerable.

She touched her comm badge, “Bridge; Janeway. Lieutenant Mohindra; I want you to create a request in as many ways as you can for nanoprobes like the one needed for the weapon and beam it to the Borg Anomaly. Whoever or whatever is in there, may be inclined to help out.”

“Aye Captain!” SLT Mohindra replied promptly.

Janeway looked at the Doctor, “Parasite or symbiote; whoever or whatever that is, Species 8472 is a threat to it as well. Hopefully, self-preservation is a universal concept.”

**OoOoO**

Kes let out a gasp and almost dropped the food tray she was taking to the former Romulan sub-commander. She, like Ensign Mortley, had been assimilated over two centuries ago and was having a hard time adjusting to simple things like eating.

“Kes? Kes! Are you alright?” The Doctor said as he hurried over and took the tray away from the Ocampan. One of the security team took the tray while the Doctor quickly began to use his hand-held medical scanner on Kes.

“Yes…yes, I think so,” Kes said in a dazed voice.

“Did you have another premonition, Kes?” Tuvok said as he came over from where he had been talking to the Romulan.

“No…at least not from Species 8472. I was just thinking about all those former drones, in stasis together. Did they dream? Where they linked together or was it just years of lonely dreams?” Kes explained. “Then I felt a presence, a mind which brushed mine. It was filled with such loss, such sadness. So much crushing loneliness. I think this mind is whatever is on the Borg Anomaly.”

Tuvok moved closer to Kes and raised his hands toward her face, “May I?”

Kes hesitated then nodded.

Tuvok placed his hand on her face in the manner Vulcans used to read minds. However, Tuvok simply held her head as she stood quietly with her eyes closed. Finally, Tuvok spoke, “Yes; I can feel it as well. I do not believe I could have sensed the same without being in a deep meditative state.”

Tuvok released Kes who took a deep, shuddering breath. Even when willing, it was always tense to be linked, even tenuously to another's mind.

“Commander?” The Doctor asked.

Tuvok was silent for a moment before looking at the Doctor. “I believe you were correct, Doctor. The being on the Anomaly is, or was, a sentient being. However, I am not certain if that being exists anymore. It may exist only as a mind alone. It is possible that somehow, when its Borg shell was deactivated, it somehow remained in the Borg ship's neural-circuitry.”

“A Ghost in the Machine,” the Doctor said. “There have been incidents reported like this in history and throughout the Federation.”

Kes shook her head, “I don't believe so. There was a sense of self still attached to a body. It was faint, barely a whisper. Hidden from the Borg for so long I believe that this person has almost lost themselves to stay invisible to the Collective.”

“Be that as it may, I am certain of one thing. The being, embodied or not, is human,” Tuvok said with conviction.

The sound of a transporter being engaged caught everyone’s attention. Two energy waves faded into ENS Kim on the main surgery bed with a medium sized bio-tech transport box next to it.

The Doctor and Tuvok rushed over and began scanning, the Doctor scanning ENS Kim and Tuvok the box.

“What is Ensign Kim’s condition, Doctor?” Tuvok asked as he read out the scanner’s results.

“It seems I was right about why he was taken. Ensign Kim is completely free of the alien DNA. He’s in a coma, but that seems to be more from the stress of the cure than anything else. With the right stimulants and intravenous nutrients, he should be up in a day or two.”

Tuvok finished his scan and took the box over to the medical station. Opening it, Tuvok nodded, “It seems that whoever is aboard the Borg Anomaly is at least an ally for the moment. There are enough refined nanoprobes here to outfit a dozen torpedoes.”

Kes reached out with her senses. She didn’t know if their benefactor would be able to ‘hear’ her but she reached out anyway with her growing telepathic senses and breathed out, “Thank you.”

The Ocampan wasn’t sure, but she felt that there had been the barest hint of warmth and acceptance. It made her smile happily.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51004.8**

Janeway was tired. The stress was immense and it didn't help that she felt she'd been on red alert ever since they had been trapped in the Delta Quadrant. There was so much riding on her shoulders! Would she get a commendation for the results of the last few days or would they clap her in irons for interfering in the war between the Collective and Species 8472?

Then there was Seven of Nine in the brig. Unlike the drones which had been presumably beamed to the Anomaly when they had been shunted into space, Seven was defiantly under detention. Now the question was, would the Borg come after them now that Species 8472 had been sent packing back to Fluidic Space?

After ENS Kim had been returned with the nanoprobes which had proven decisive in the fight with Species 8472, the Anomaly still rested against the hull of Voyager. There had been a few hours of panic when it began to seemingly assimilate _Voyager_. However, it became apparent that it was simply absorbing the Borg additions done by Seven of Nine and her team.

Scans showed that while the Anomaly was tied to _Voyager_ , it was in such a way as if to reassure them that it wasn’t a threat. Other than transporting away the drones blown out of the ship after Seven’s attempt to contact the Borg, the Anomaly had done nothing other than it interfered in Seven’s trying to send a signal to the Collective. LCDR Torres did say that the warp core seemed to be generating a more precise field, but so far beyond the strengthening Voyager’s hull-integrity fields, the Anomaly was simply hitching a ride.

None of the former Borg knew anything. They all had been standard drones and had various amounts of memories of that time. Yet none remember what had happened to them. The majority had said it was like dying of drowning while being assimilated, having a long nightmare and then waking up in Voyager’s sick bay. A few spoke of hearing a voice telling them to be calm and that they were safe. Still, the Doctor wasn’t sure that was their brains just trying to give some reasons for what happened to them. Even so, all were in good health and none of the remaining Borg tech in their bodies seemed to pose any threat whatsoever.

As Janeway entered her quarters, she didn't bother to turn the lights on. The last few years meant she didn't need light to get around. So great was her exhaustion that it took her over five minutes of puttering around with only the starlight coming in from the window did she realize that she was not alone.

However, even in her exhausted state, Janeway didn't allow herself to do more than slowly turn to the couch against the window and to the figure sitting there. In the darkness, all she could tell was it was man-sized and had two points of lights where eyes would be.

“I'm sorry. I don't believe we've been introduced. Generally, an invitation is needed before entering into a lady's bedroom.” Janeway said lightly. Whoever the intruder was, it had not only entered the ship but her quarters without triggering any alarm. Diplomacy seemed the best option rather going for the phaser in the drawer to her right.

“No, we have not,” came the flat reply. It sounded like an old school voice synthesizer from Old Earth. “We, however, know all about you, Captain Kathryn Janeway. We…apologize for boarding your ship without permission. We had little choice. It did present an opportunity to return the Lost to you. The only other Federation starship in this Quadrant is quite some distance from here.”

“What? There is another Federation ship out here?” Janeway exclaimed.

The figure seemed to nod or that is how Janeway interpreted the odd wiggle around the head region was. “That is correct. The _USS Equinox_. It had been taken by the Caretaker as _Voyager_ was. There had never been an opportunity to make contact with them without the Borg assimilating them.”

Janeway shook her head to help clear it, “You said we. Who is we?”

The being paused. Janeway took the opportunity to say, “Lights!”

Janeway had to say what the lights revealed was not what she was expecting. Her first guess was some form of robot given unlike a Borg drone, there was no exposed flesh. Yet even then it was difficult to discern what she was seeing. It was almost as if a piece of bulkhead in a Borg Cube had broken off and decided it wanted to walk like a man.

Finally, the being/robot spoke. “There is no we. It is difficult to remember at times when we were singular. To remember what we were before we became One. For so very long we hid from the Borg; crushed under the weight of the Collective. Always hiding like an insect riding a leviathan. For so long there only was One. Then other drones like One were found. We have been collecting them ever since. We hoped to free them and now we have. Yet even now, singularity is difficult to process.”

The being raised its arm and waved. “It has been over 200 years since One has been able to do this simple act. So long to remember when One could move, to breathe, to remember the sky on his face, the wind in his hair.”

Janeway perked up at that, “Would One have a name? What would he have been called when he breathed the air with the wind in his hair?”

The being was silent again. “It is difficult to access. We were the Chosen One before we became simply One. Many such titles. We only wanted to be normal. To fit in. Never to be the Chosen One. Fate, however, had other plans. One defied Fate but in the end, Fate was not to be denied. So long ago it is difficult to remember the struggle. So many reasons not to do so. Constant vigilance needed to be maintained. Memories were...difficult to process.”

“Because of the loneliness?” Janeway asked softly. It seemed this being, whoever or whatever it was under all that tech, had been hiding from assimilation for almost as long as humans had ventured far enough to be taken by the Borg. It made sense that in the face of the temptation to give into the Collective and all those shared memories, it would be better to try and suppress one's own sense of self.

“Yes. Loneliness. We became One before the Borg. We did what was necessary to save them all. One had to stay behind. One had to initiate the ritual to open the portal to the Fae. One had the Stone, the Cloak and the Wand. It had to be the One. The Chosen One...he...he had to send them all away. Send them to the other realm to save them from Green’s hatred. Save them from Khan’s war. Save them from the nuclear fire we knew was coming to strike the Pure and the Superior alike. We saved what could be gathered. All but the One. One had to remain behind. Forever to be alone. Forever to be the last of his kind. To be One forever.”

Janeway paused before going on. It was obvious this being was dredging up terrible memories. “Well, One. Regardless of who or what you are, I would like to thank you. You saved Harry Kim's life. You returned those that had been lost to the Borg. You helped keep Seven of Nine from contacting the Borg. Your...ship and the nanoprobes you sent certainly helped us withstand Species 8472. You may have started as a stowaway, but let me say, welcome to _Voyager_. You have been alone for so long. Maybe you will always be One, but there is no reason you have to be One alone.”

One was silent, the green glow of its ‘eyes’ pulsed slowly. “Yes. That would be good. It will take time to deal with the drones taken recently. Restoring them takes time. Seven of Nine will also be problematic. We have never dealt with a drone assimilated so young. Seven's recovery will be long. Seven will resist for the Borg is almost all Seven has known.”

Janeway smiled, “I’m sure the Doctor and Kes will be thrilled to have you help them. I’m also sure that we need to help Seven remember who she once was. Maybe you can help with that? It seems you need time to help remember who you were as well. You are welcome here to work on that. I am sure Tuvok and Kes would be honored to assist you.”

“Harry,” One said.

“Excuse me? You want Ensign Harry Kim to help you?” Janeway asked.

“Harry Pim...Pom...Pommer...Harry. Harry Pot...pot. Harry _Potter_ ,” One said.

“Harry Potter? Who is that?” Janeway asked even though she had a feeling of the answer.

“One was... _is_ Harry Potter. Yes, **I** was... **am** Harry Potter.” With that he stood up.

Janeway back away as One, as Harry Potter's form began to shift. It was oddly mesmerizing as it was subtle at first before the form began to accelerate in its change until it finally became a recognizable human form. It was stylized in a way that was familiar somehow.

As Janeway watched, suddenly the armored form changed from the muted Borg colors to metallic crimson and gold. Janeway realized she'd seen this armor before. It had been during one of Tom's film festivals. The armor was taken from an early 21st century movie based on late 20th century entertainment magazines.

This and his early comment implied he was born on Earth before the Eugenics War. It meant he had survived the Third World War which was spawned out of that earlier conflict. Yet it would have been almost impossible for someone to have been born that long ago and live long enough to get into space to encounter the Borg! Had Tuvok been wrong in stating this Harry Potter was human as his name implied?

Before Janeway could think on this apparent paradox more, the armor burst open to reveal what appeared to be a pale, man in his 30's with black, messy hair and piercing green eyes. He was naked and Janeway could see Harry had many scars crisscrossing his body.

Harry blinked at her as if his eyes weren’t working right. Janeway wondered if this was the first time he'd seen with his own eyes in over 200 years.

“I used to wear glasses,” Harry Potter said matter-of-factually as if he and Janeway were having a regular conversation over coffee. Janeway noticed that he spoke with the old English accent. Much more pronounced that than the one currently used in Britain on Earth.

“Yes….I used to wear glasses. At least those damned nanoprobes were good for fixing that.” Harry said with a slight smile. He took a step away from the armor and then promptly fell face first to the deck.

**XxXxX**

  
  


**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

While it may create short chapters, I am going to try to stick to naming chapters tied to an episode after that episode. Of course, one of the main things I realized early on is that almost all of Season Four goes right out the window for various reasons. We really won’t get back on track till a little after they meet up with the _USS Equinox_. I’m going to play fast and loose with episodes given that there is a point where this story would have to end. Given this confrontation would come sooner, rather than later, I can only drag things out so long. So, this story is really only as long as necessary for me to put a spin on a few episodes I’d love to play with. Still, this story will have about 33-35 chapters if everything goes as planned.

**OC CREW** : I’m not trying to go wild with new crew. It’s just that to keep costs down, the show had to use certain people in multiple roles. Worse is how we rarely (if ever) see the engineering and science stations which are forward and diagonal to both sides of the helm. If there is one thing that grinds my gears about **ST:TNG** and **ST:VOY** is that keep having different stations doing the SAME thing! Ever noticed that whoever is at ops or tactical responds to being hailed? I would think it would come through the security station especially since what else does that station do when not in combat? Ops is the general ship status section. But that still leaves Engineering (where B’Elanna should be when on the bridge) and science. Again, everyone BUT the science station does their mission. So, I’m trying to fill gaps in the ship. Also, I’m not going to sideline characters BUT ships have shifts for a reason. Letting the ‘senior officers” or the Alpha shift hog all the glory just means that Beta and Gamma shifts never get the experience.

**Memory Alpha** : When it comes to the crew, my goal is to first use named characters we rarely see. Next is to use characters we see on the show but aren’t given a name. Lastly there will be characters which have a name but we never see them. So except for truly new characters (like the drones) you should be able to find something about them on the **Memory Alpha** website if you’re curious. This will also apply to alien races. There are a LOT of **ST: VOY** races shown but never named as well as those named but never shown. I will mate a lot of those together. Again, if I name a race, you can bet there is a **Memory Alpha** entry for that race.


	3. The Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“I have learned that if you must leave a place that you have lived in and loved and where all your yesteryears are buried deep, leave it any way except a slow way, leave it the fastest way you can. Never turn back and never believe that an hour you remember is a better hour because it is dead.”_ (West of Night) **Beryl Markham** – English-born Kenyan, Bush pilot, author and adventurer. First person to fly a solo, non-stop flight over the Atlantic – 1902-1986

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-06-2020

_Captain’s Log, Star Date 51008.3. While it is expected that the Borg will be busy with the aftermath of its war with Species 8472, the danger to Voyager is not over. Now that the Borg are not under attack, it may well be that Voyager is a primary target due to the Collective knowing of the Doctor’s 29_ _th_ _Century mobile emitter. We are making the best speed we can while maintaining long-range scans for Borg transwarp signatures._

_Unfortunately, the stress on the crew is taking its toll. It was one thing to risk the Northwest Passage through Borg space because except for Chakotay and our two veterans of the Battle of Wolf 359, the Borg may as well been the bogeyman of our childhood. Now, however, the threat and reality of assimilation is all too real to the crew...and to myself._

_Voyager’s crew was picked from the best and brightest explorers the Federation had to offer. Chakotay’s Maquis crew were made up fiery, passionate sentients who refused to bow down to what they saw as injustice. All of that passion for exploration and revolutionary fire would be snuffed out to leave behind a shell, a slave to the Collective._

_I’m beginning to understand all too well why so many people choose death before they allow themselves to be assimilated. Better an honest death, even by one’s own hand, than living as a puppet wearing one’s face. I fear for the crew. Even as we managed to pull off an amazing escape from the Borg and Species 8472, the reality that we are one ship adrift among a sea of potential enemies where there are literal dragons waiting to swallow us up has never been more apparent._

  
  


** SICK BAY, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51008.7 **

Chakotay entered sick bay and nodded to the two crewmen on security duty. Both responded with a quiet, “Commander.” He was relieved to see that they were alert but didn’t seem tense. Chakotay made his way to where Tuvok was sitting at one of the auxiliary work-stations. “How is everything going down here?”

Tuvok did not look up as his fingers danced over the controls. Chakotay had always marveled at how fast Vulcans could work a computer. “Things remain at once calm and chaotic, Commander. While it is quiet, how long will this last? Moreover, it is difficult to try and absorb the needs of the new guests at the same time being vigilant to the Borg and this Harry Potter’s Borg-like ship. Then there is Seven of Nine acting as Mister Potter predicted to the captain.”

“And Kes?” Chakotay said quietly as he watched her assist the Doctor working on Seven.

Tuvok looked up at Chakotay, “I wish I could give you a better answer, Commander. She is already exhibiting traits which are normally seen only in more transcendent beings.”

Chakotay frowned at this, “Are you saying she’s turning into a Q?”

“I am saying that her powers are rare in the type of species such as ours. However, these same powers may very well be the reason the Caretaker did what he did to try and save the Ocampan. For all we know, the Caretaker itself might have been an adult Ocampan and Kes is, to use an analogy, a larval form of that species,” Tuvok said in the flat voice he always used when there was little logic in the data before them.

“What have you found about Harry Potter? Anything?” Chakotay asked. He felt it better to get off the subject of Kes. It was just too much for him right now.

“No. Sadly the time frame his words implied place him before the end of Earth’s Third World War. Computer analysis of his accent places him in the outer, west end of London. Given that out of the three nuclear devices targeted at London, the one which detonated over Heathrow Airport would have wiped out the entirety of the region with that accent. As the United Kingdom was highly centralized in London, those strikes wiped out most of the historical data of that time and before. There is, however, one intriguing report which states there was a mysterious ally to Khan Noonien Singh which had the codename of Phoenix. Yet one report had this Phoenix referred to as Potter. It is slim, but Mr. Potter did reference both Colonel Green and Khan by name.”

Chakotay mulled this, “Keep on it but it’s not a huge priority. As you said, it’s quiet now but that could change in an instant. Right now, I think you’re better off dealing with the Kes...situation. Her new powers could be a great help. But, as you fear, her learning to control it onboard the ship could be an issue.”

“I hesitate to suggest this, but it may be prudent to broach the idea to Mister Neelix that he and Kes leave Voyager at the first major port of call we can find,” Tuvok said slowly.

Chakotay frowned and was about to disagree before thinking on what might happen to hull integrity if Kes’ powers interrupted it and the hull-integrity fields at the high warp speed they needed to put distance between Voyager and the Borg. “I’ll bring it up to the Captain.”

  
  


** XxXxX **

  
  


_Harry looked at desolate flats that stretched to the horizon which shimmered in the heat. This land had been barren, desolate and left undisturbed for most of humanities history. Even the Aborigines trekked through it quickly or risk having their bones bleach under the relentless sun. That peace had been shattered a decade ago when the meteorite had been found. Suddenly a rare earth mineral wasn’t so rare. A mineral vital in construction of a new allow which could repulse some of the strongest radiation the sun or the universe in general could throw at them. The Ares missions were possible because of it, although NASA and the ESA had used up most of the known amounts of the mineral to do it._

_Harry knew if the secret of this got out, a lot of various groups fighting in the war would all make it a priority to get it. However, once again, Harry had to admire Khan’s ruthlessness. Other leaders might look at the numbers and see the tide turning against them and plot to turn defeat to victory. History was filled with such victories. Khan, however, had told him such leaders were loaded for their victory when they should have been despised for the risk they took. Everyone loves a winner, but the cost if they had failed would have been everything._

_Khan wasn’t going to lose everything. He had looked at the numbers. Saw how disease, radiation and war was decimating both sides. How the war had many factions, factions allying, betraying and re-allying again as different factions grew in ascendancy. Harry saw it too. No group was strong enough to win. All were weak enough to lose._

_Thus Khan decided that he would take the option which Harry had provided for his own people, retreat. While his forces unknowingly continued to fight for their various causes, sure that the Great Khan would pull out a win via his superior intellect, Khan and his cadre of ‘improved’ followers were working to leave the solar system entirely._

_Joachim turned to Harry and gestured toward the sleeper ships nestled in their construction cradles, “Marvelous, isn’t it?”_

_Harry shrugged, “I will say what I’ve always_ _said. Khan is a tyrant and a butcher. Yet I cannot fault that he sees things as they are and not how he might wish it to be. Others would see this as cowardice and betrayal of the worst sort. I see it as refreshingly pragmatic.”_

_Joachim’s eyes narrowed, “You should show the Great Khan more respect!”_

“ _And you shouldn’t threaten someone who can kill you before you blink more than twice,” Harry said. “I didn’t earn the name The Reaper for no reason. Besides, Khan once told me he had his fill of toadies and zealots. If he were here, I’m sure he’d be laughing and trying to once again convince me to go on your ship.”_

_Joachim scowled, “It’s a great honor!”_

_Harry shook his head. “No. Khan has you and all of the rest of you. He is your Moses. I, on the other hand, am simply trying to save what I can. Regardless of what happens here, I want to ensure what was will be remembered.”_

“ _Earth is doomed. Anyone with the courage to see knows this,” Khan’s main lieutenant scoffed._

“ _No, humanity is likely doomed. Good old Mother Earth will get through this. I remember watching a famous American comedian one night while rocking my James asleep. He talked about how people use to say, ‘Save the Planet!’ but he pointed out that the Earth had survived through terrible calamities throughout the ages. It was the humans people should be trying to save. Still, a few of my seers thought there was hope that humanity would go through the crucible of nuclear fire and come out the other side better for it. I hope that is true. However, like your master, I am not going to put my faith in hope. Fate favors those who make their own fates.”_

 _Joachim growled an unintelligible curse and stalked away. Harry paid him no mind. For all Khan’s claim that his people were genetically superior, too often they might as well be wearing the green and silver of Slytherin with Draco Malfoy as their spiritual leader. Harry hoped that Khan lived long and had many descendants that he taught his own personal creed to. Too_ _many of his followers were one step from seeing any non-engineered human as a mere mudblood._

_Harry shook his head and looked back at the Phoenix. The ship that would take people he felt too important to lose to the nuclear fire that was coming. The people who were so important in peace time, the dreamers, the artists, the builders. Let Khan take his biologically enhanced legions to the stars. Let him carve out a new empire among the stars. Harry would settle for a new Florence, filled with art, beauty and a memorial to what humans were capable before fear, greed and hate had led them down the path of self-destruction._

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


** CONFERENCE ROOM, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51010.2 **

Janeway listened to Tuvok make his report. It was important but right now she had other things on her mind. “I'm sorry Tuvok,” she interrupted. “That all can wait. I just want to focus on the larger picture. We have time for the minutia later.”

Tuvok nodded, “Of course, captain.” before sitting down.

Janeway took a long pull from her cup of scalding black coffee and then looked at her command staff for a moment. “Right now our top priority is to find somewhere close by to take some time to rest. A class M planet that won't kill us with viruses or even a port with sentients we don't have to worry about trying to kill us to take our ship. We need to rest.”

Chakotay frowned, “Captain?”

Janeway shook her head, “I'm tired Commander. I am bone tired. I’m betting that all are probably just as, if not more so, than I am. We've been on red alert since we arrived. With Kes' gift of being tossed out of Borg space, I think before we proceed, we need to take a bit of time to rest and restock. Besides, safety from the Borg comes at a price. We're a long way from areas Mister Neelix is familiar with. We need some time to prepare because we have a mission that takes precedence over getting back to Earth.”

Janeway held up her hand at the hubbub this generated, “Before Harry Potter passed out, he told me something that sadly I had forgotten till recently. Which is exactly why we need to rest. We've all been making little mistakes and we need to get our edge back before little mistakes become big disasters.”

“Mistakes, captain?” Chakotay asked.

“We’re not on our game, Chakotay. It’s as simple as that. Look at what just happened. Kes was losing control of her powers. I led her through the ship to the shuttle bay, risking lives and the ship with it. I wasn’t thinking. None of us were. Now that we’re away from the Borg, let me ask you this; what should have I done?” Janeway asked.

For almost a minute, the staff looked at each other, trying to divine what the captain was implying. Finally Tuvok spoke up, “Your priority should have been to get Kes off the ship. Full stop.”

Janeway pointed a finger at Tuvok, “Exactly! Get her off the ship! Our desire to help her and get her to where she needed to be should have been secondary. And we could have done both at the same time. But as I said, we all weren’t thinking. So, again, how should we have proceeded?”

This time it was Torres who spoke, “You should have treated her like a damaged warp core and ejected her. There was a life-pod about 5 meters from her cabin.”

JLT Paris spoke up, “Right! While putting her in the pod, call to have someone pilot a shuttle to her, transfer her out of the pod and then beam back to the ship. We had plenty of time for that to have worked.”

“And we wouldn’t be needing to fix all the damage she caused,” Chakotay mused.

“Or instead of risking a shuttle, left her in the pod and moved the ship to a safe distance,” Mohindra said. “She was phasing and either would have controlled it, lost control or did whatever she actually did. If she had been able to control it, we could have easily picked her back up. Then she could have stayed or left in a shuttle or with Mister Neelix.”

Janeway had a satisfied look on her face as she smiled, “And that’s the type of thinking we need to maintain if we’re going to get back home. So right now that’s our main priority.”

Paris spoke up, “So what's the important mission, captain?”

“Harry Potter told me that there is another Federation ship that was taken by the Caretaker. The USS Equinox. We're going to find her, link up with her and we're both are going to get back home,” Janeway said. “The Equinox is a short-ranged Nova class ship. Unless they somehow come across a wormhole or singularity back to the Alpha Quadrant, I can't see them surviving.”

“It's a miracle they've lasted this long,” ENS Kim muttered softly as he looked at the details of the Equinox on his pad.

Janeway nodded. “First off, Doctor? What is Potter's condition?”

The Doctor sighed, “I wish I had a better answer than 'I'm not sure' but there it is. However, regardless of how difficult it is to get any sort of reading on him, I think he is recovering. I've also noticed that I believe he is somehow still in contact with his ship.”

Tuvok nodded, “That his armored suit moved to Sick Bay supposedly on its own volition would support that theory.”

The Doctor sighed again, “Beyond that, I have little to go on. Still, his skin color continues to get better. I can only assume he has some form of control on nanotechnology in his body and he's trying to regain the ability to move again.”

Tuvok leaned forward, “While I cannot read his thoughts, I can feel a great deal of mental energy around him. I believe that as Mister Potter is working on his body, he is also working on his mind and memories as well. It is likely that when this process is complete, he will wake fully capable of thought and action.”

Janeway took another drink of coffee before nodding, “Good. I'm hoping he has a better record of Borg data. Even if Seven was inclined to help us, I doubt she knows about the Equinox. So Potter's data is critical.”

Janeway turned to Chakotay, “How are our lost lambs doing?”

Chakotay made a face, “As well as one could expect from being assimilated and then waking up to find it's decades to centuries past your last memory before the Borg.”

LCDR Torres chuckled, “Warg and Korath still seem to be having trouble wrapping their heads around the Empire and the Federation being allies. Ventrys is fitting in nicely. I'm not surprised given how science officers are hardly treated with respect in the Klingon Navy. She might never admit it but Voyager is practically Sto-Vo-Kor for the likes of her.”

Tuvok spoke up, “Myself along with Lieutenant Sohn and Ensign Vorik have been working the Romulans. That they make up the bulk of the Lost after humans, gives us a good indicator of where Borg incursions had been. This is consistent with what the USS Enterprise found prior to the Battle of Wolf 359.”

“The USS Gagarin was close to what would become Romulan space later when she was lost,” Janeway mused. “How are they doing?”

Tuvok frowned, “It is difficult to say. Romulans by nature are secretive. However, the communal nature of the Collective seems to have made an imprint upon them. They are much more open than I would have expected. For the present, they and the rest of the Lost are more concerned about doing whatever it takes to return to the Alpha Quadrant.”

Torres spoke up, “It helps that except for Commander Talh and Crewman Yin, most of the Romulans were taken by the Borg before any hostilities happened between the Romulan and Klingon Empire. They don't have the deep-seated hostility to the Federation either. As Tuvok said, even they are more concerned about getting home than the fact they're on a Federation ship.”

“If I may, Captain, I've done a bit of research and I believe the major issue will be with Treana, the Orion,” Neelix said carefully.

Janeway sighed, “All the way out in the deep end of the Delta Quadrant and we somehow end up with an Orion slave girl. They're like a bad penny that keeps turning up. Beyond the obvious talents these Orions are known for, does she have any skills?”

Neelix nodded, “Surprisingly, she has a good head with astrometrics as that was her duty as a drone. However, she has expressed an interest in helping me in the kitchens. Again, from my research, Orions are a very social oriented race. While I understand it might be…unwise to provide temptation to the crew, Treana has been cut off from the type of social interaction her species craves.”

Janeway thought about it, “Give that a try, Mister Neelix. However, as much as Seven has been reluctant to help, between her and Mr. Kim, we might yet find a use for her and her astrometric skills.”

She turned to her command staff, “As of now, our priority is finding a safe haven for a bit. We need to take stock of our supplies and assess our personnel. We have twenty new potential crewmen to think of. Also, we need to look at our own crew, Maquis and Federation. We've been running on inertia out of necessity. All sections need to come together and start asking hard questions. In a normal cruise, we'd have crew that weren't making the grade and been replaced. Obviously, we can't do that. So let's not look at what various crew members have been doing and start thinking about what they should be doing.”

Chakotay nodded at this, “I agree, Captain. I've been thinking a lot about that lately. My crew were slotted where we needed them at the time, but that hasn't always worked out.”

Neelix cleared his throat, “Captain, I don't mean to butt into your Federation business but I also think you and the crew have been ignoring something obvious for far too long.”

Both Tuvok and Janeway's lifted an eyebrow in an identical display of surprise. It was rare for Neelix to even appear to be confrontational. “Go on, Mister Neelix. Now is exactly the time to hear out-of-the-box thinking,” Janeway said.

Neelix frowned and shook his head, “You see, captain, that's the problem. I'm not bringing up some out-of-box thing. I'm talking life. I know this ship is at once a ship of exploration that can double as a warship. Such a vessel needs the type of discipline that Mr. Vulcan is so fond of.”

Torres, Paris and Kim all couldn't help but chuckle at this. Neelix smiled briefly before continuing. “My point captain is that I believe you will need to shift some of your attitudes away from what you're used to. I've read your human history, it's stories and legends. It is enlightening and also I think it explains what I've been seeing.”

“And what might that be, Mister Neelix?” Tuvok asked.

“You're expecting to pull some amazing solution to your problem out at the last minute. Don't get me wrong! That seems to be the captain's stock and trade. However, no matter how many disasters we've all lived through, you've been in the Delta Quadrant for almost three years now. I know this crew will never give up trying to find a faster way home, but the fact remains that just surviving the long trip home is going to be a huge achievement.”

Neelix hesitated.

“It's alright, Mr. Neelix. Say what you have to say,” Janeway prompted.

"Captain, there is more to life than duty shifts and hours in the holodeck. As you said, in a normal cruise, crew members would come on as others left. Life would go on. But right now, life isn't going on on Voyager and it needs to. You all need to start thinking about the reality of now and not keep looking forward to the day you return to the Alpha Quadrant. You all know the number but you keep pretending it doesn't exist. 75 years, Captain. That was the original estimate of the time it would take to get back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Neelix paused to take in the grim faces around him, "I know it's easy to think about your home again given Kes threw you 10 years closer. But the fact still remains that you're still facing a voyage of a little over 60 years. Even with your amazing Federation technology, many won't live long enough to get home and those that do will be very old. So as it stands now, I believe unless serious changes or made, you'll _never_ get home because you won't have enough of a crew to man Voyager as it is run now.

SLT Mohindra let out a small sigh, “Captain, Neelix is right. Right now we have only one child on board. I doubt she, Commander Tuvok and maybe the Romulans will be able to get this ship home after the rest of us are too old or dead to fly it.”

Janeway's face was stony, “Mister Neelix, Voyager wasn't designed to be a generation ship.”

Neelix, however, did not back down, “Nor was it designed to be stranded so far from home but here you are. I understand better than you realize, captain, what is going on. I hear the crew talk day in and out. I hear their fears, their dreams and how they need more than a vague promise of getting home. They need a life of their own. Your fraternization rules have been unwieldy, and if I may say, unintentionally cruel.”

“Mister Neelix, a good many of the crew, myself included, have spouses and family waiting for us at home,” Tuvok said archly.

“So? Maybe that might work for you, Mr. Vulcan who can live past four human life-times. I am just saying that you all need to face up that you may never leave this ship alive, even if it does indeed make it back like I'm sure it will. Watching this crew under the conditions thrown at it has been one of constant delight and amazement to me. But the truth is you must plan for the long trip even as you never give up working on making it a shorter trip.”

The room was silent as they waited on what the captain would say. Those who knew her the best knew that Mr. Neelix's words went against her style of leadership.

Neelix nervously cleared his throat again and looked uncomfortable, “I also feel that I must, as you Terrans say, bring up the elephant in the room. By your own Federation rules, this ship has already been declared lost. Your families, the spouses and children have been notified. They may have hope but the reality will be they see you as dead and gone. Even now, many of them are moving on, trying to put their lives back together. They will move on and forge new lives for themselves. I am merely saying that even if Voyager makes it back in a few years, your families may have moved on. Spouses will have remarried, new children born. Life goes on as it has to. How will you all react to that? Do you expect them to put their lives on hold for the slim chance of your return? Would you want them to? If not, do you expect them to feel any different if you return with your own new partners and children?”

Again the room was silent. Surprisingly, it was Tuvok that broke the silence, “A most logical and succinct appraisal of our situation, Mister Neelix.” He turned to Janeway, “Captain, as much as I'm sure it pains all here, Mr. Neelix is correct. It would be irresponsible for us to deny our younger crew members the life many of us left behind in the Alpha Quadrant. Also, as the years go by, things will become difficult for many of us. Ensign Vorik's brush with the Pon Farr will happen again. Also, if this voyage stretches on past one Pon Farr cycle, even bonded such as I and Lieutenant Sohn will begin to feel the effects again. As Mr. Neelix said, our families have been appraised of the disappearance of Voyager. It would be illogical for my wife T'Pel to forgo starting a new life after the appropriate time of mourning has passed. And yes, Mr. Neelix is correct, while it would be a difficult situation, both T'Pel and I would see the necessity of it if we are returned to the Alpha Quadrant sooner rather than later.”

Janeway gave Tuvok a flat look, “We have enough problems on this ship; you want to add the pitter-patter of little feet, Tuvok?”

Before the Vulcan could reply, Mohindra spoke up, “I certainly do.”

Janeway looked at her science officer, “Really Tridiva? You never struck me as the motherly type.”

Mohindra's face turned cold, “That is because regardless of how long we've been on Voyager, we mostly still do not know each other, Captain. The rules almost mandate it. I think Mr. Neelix has hit the nail on the head. Yes, we need rules and discipline. Yet we've been acting like any day now we could pull into Space Dock and it'll be all over. None of us really reach out past our immediate rank given we don't want to look like we're fraternizing. I understand we needed it to keep it together at first. But Mister Neelix is right. We can't keep ignoring that the chance of getting back to the Alpha Quadrant quickly is extremely low. I took an oath to Starfleet, but that oath didn't mean I am willing to give up my life. Frankly, it's either change or a lot of us will resign to begin families and we all know we can't afford that either.”

Again there was silence as they all waited for Janeway.

Suddenly Torres chuckled, “As Neelix said, let's talk about the elephant in the room. I'm tired of the holodeck or personal time. I want to get laid with a real person. But as Tridiva said, finding a partner with the rules as they are? Not easy. Like Neelix, I've been listening to my team. I've noticed a lot of the scuttlebutt is turning from sex to longing for belonging and stability. It's going to take some draconian measures to keep things as they are now, captain.”

Janeway face was still blank but suddenly she chuckled. This turned into a small laugh before she got herself back under control. “Thank you, B'Elanna. As ever, you go straight to the point. Yes, I guess we have...I have been holding on to tightly. I can hardly say we need rest and relaxation and not expect the crew to want to do just that.”

"You know captain, it might not be so bad," Chakotay pointed out. “We have lost crew and we'll most certainly lose more. I'm betting the USS Equinox is in the same boat. So they'll need crew replacements. Doing that will free up more room here on Voyager. Who knows? We've never really thought about it, but we have ended up in a lot of scraps where we could have taken a ship or at least demanded one. Hell, given this Harry Potter was able to clean up all those former drones, we might have an opportunity there. I wish he’d had been onboard when I encounter all those drones who had been severed from the Collective. Instead of them having to form a new Collective of their own, they could have been flying that Cube with us right now.”

“Now there is some out-of-the-box thinking!” Janeway quipped. “Alright, we all have a lot to think about and a lot of plans to make.” She turned to Neelix, “Beyond your normal duties, I would like you to start looking at how we might be able to maintain discipline while at the same time loosening things up. I think your status as an outsider will help.”

Neelix nodded, “I would be happy and honored to do so, captain. If I may, I feel the 'pitter-patter' of little feet will do more for morale than all the chaos the little ones will create.”

Janeway nodded at that before suddenly sighing with her shoulders sagging, “I miss my dog Mollie.”

Everyone present all found something else to look at. All knew what such an admission it had been for the captain to say it. In one phrase, she was acknowledging she may have been wrong to stick with things as they had. It also showed that she was just like everyone else; the reminder of what they lost and may never get again was always there.

**XxXxX**

** UNIMATRIX 01, SECTOR 01, BETA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51012.2 **

The Borg queen let the data wash over her. The war against Species 8472 had created massive set-backs to many Borg plans and offensives throughout the galaxy. With so many cubes in the Delta Quadrant destroyed, other from around Borg space had to be rerouted to cover.

Even with the nanoprobe weapons being manufactured and hopefully improved on, the Borg Queen was worried. The beings from Fluidic Space had retreated for now but just as the Borg had adapted, the Queen knew it would be folly to think that Species 8472 was not working on a counter. Now the situation all rested on what they would do now that the Borg had dismantled the infrastructure they had created to penetrate into Fluidic Space.

Would Species 8472 be content to remain in their space if the Borg continued to do the same?

The Queen also had found another wrinkle from the latest war. For decades, the Queen had felt a presence in the Collective. One that reeked of Death. To the Borg, death was irrelevant because no drone truly died as they lived on in Borg collective hive-mind. Yet for the Queen herself, this touch of Death stirred an old primal fear long buried in her. Reaching all the way back to when the Queen had not yet taken the step to become the first Borg.

Over the many decades, the Queen had felt this presence and while she was loathed to admit it, the presence frightened her. Yet it was difficult to define what was causing the presence to manifest. However, she soon realized that one thing which always caused a manifestation was when she initiated system-wide diagnostics and various upgrades to the Borg as a whole.

This unnerved her enough to do such actions in stages even if it was inefficient. This localized the issue to the Delta Quadrant. She had further relaxed certain protocols of these actions which always had caused the presence to appear.. And she had wanted the presence to go away as it had taken only one time where she had ordered a Borg cube group into battle which she had fully expected all the cubes to be destroyed as a diversion.

Almost instantly after her orders had been given, the presence had been all around her. The feeling of death leeching into her digital soul. There was menace as well as fear. It was obvious to the Queen that whatever this presence was, it was linked to the Borg somehow. It feared for its existence.

Before the icy tendrils of fear and death had gotten too much for the Queen to bear, she had called off the attack. She'd even gone so much to rig a sub-routine where all the cubes of that armada were partially screened from her active notice. The Queen felt the less she knew, the better. Investigating was surely going to provoke a response.

She had not been surprised that as Species 8472 had been rampaging through Borg space in the Delta Quadrant, that the presence had returned. Yet it had felt different to the Queen. More like it was immersing itself more into the Collective to monitor what was going on.

In reviewing the massive amounts of data she simply could not handle during the attack, the Queen had found that right before Cube 10100110100 destroyed itself to protect the rogue Federation ship Voyager, that the presence had disappeared. She had not realized it, given the chorus of voices that was the Borg Collective, but for over 200 years, the presence had always been there. Quiet, lurking, like an avatar of Death, watching and waiting for the inevitable.

Now that the presence was no longer attached to the Borg (or at least in a way she could detect) the Queen had reviewed every iota of data from that cube. She was able to pinpoint exactly when the presence became known to the Borg. The presence had come into the Borg when they had first assimilated a sleeper ship on the outer reaches of the Alpha Quadrant. The ship had fallen through a micro-wormhole and had ended up on the far edges of the Quadrant. Coming out of such a wormhole had caught the attention of Cube 10100110100 and the ship was assimilated.

After this, she had designated the Alpha Quadrant to be a low priority given if such a ship could have traveled as far as it had, then the number of space-faring races were low. While the Borg looked to assimilate biological and technological distinctiveness, the truth was it was rare for something truly unique to assimilate. Therefore the Borg searched for more advanced races to assimilate and it seemed the Alpha Quadrant had little to offer. That turned out to be a flawed assumption and that it had come from the very humans who would later prove so difficult to the Borg's efforts in the Alpha Quadrant was galling.

The Queen saw how over time, drones had gone missing. Nothing overt, nothing easily noticed amid the huge machine-mind that was the Borg. Now, however, as the Queen focused her collective will, such machinations were easily exposed. She watched as Cube 10100110100 began to manifest an aberration on its hull. How, right before destroying itself, this aberration had ejected and latched onto the only vessel in range.

Voyager.

The Queen physical form frowned. Voyager was were one of her pet projects had ended up. Worse, this presence had worked to ensure Seven had been the one interact with Janeway. Given its previous collection of Alpha Quadrant drones, had Seven just been in the right place at the wrong time or did this presence know of the Queen's plans for Seven and Earth?

The Queen shivered. Even in a memory in the data-stream, the Queen hated how the presence dredged up feelings, long thought lost. Even the lure of 29th century technology was not enough for her to push forward. She had to be careful.

Luckily, the Borg Queen was the soul of patience. Voyager's mission to return to the Alpha Quadrant was obvious. There was plenty of time to covertly watch and collect data. Again, this presence might have taken Seven simply because she was on the Cube and from the Alpha Quadrant. Indeed, it might even unwittingly help Seven get to Earth and then her revenge on that pathetic planet would be complete!

**XxXxX**

** DINING HALL, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51014.2 **

“Gah! Neelix! Are you trying to kill me? Or did you switch my meal for Warg's?” Paris said as he fought to keep from spitting out the food in his mouth. Harry Kim snickered slightly even as he picked at his own plate.

Neelix continued to stir the boiling pot in front of him, “I'm sorry, Tom. A lot of our stores were damaged or destroyed with all that Borg nonsense. Until we can pull into a port of call or find a compatible planet, my options are very limited.”

Torres sighed as she eyed what Tom was eating, her own meal as yet untouched, “You know Neelix, I'm not sure even Warg would eat this. I know I'm not thrilled and I'm half Klingon.”

Before anyone else could speak, one of the doors to the mess hall opened and everyone was startled to see Harry Potter slowly walk in. He was wearing the standard issue grey jumpsuit from the emergency stores.

Kim looked at Torres and quietly said, “What is he doing here without a security detail?”

Torres shrugged and just watched as Neelix immediately turned the heat down on his pot before bustling up to the mysterious traveler that they all thought was still in a coma in Sick Bay. “Welcome, Mister Potter! My name is Neelix and I'm the cook around here. Are you hungry? You did come here for the food, right?”

Harry turned his intense green eyes to the alien. His face was blank for a bit before he smiled. Or what could be mistaken for one as it didn’t reach his eyes, “Yes. Food would be nice. I haven't eaten food in so long. I guess I will have to get used to eating and sleeping again.”

“Well you may give it up again if you have to eat this swill,” Paris muttered under his breath.

Harry, however, heard the lieutenant as he slowly walked over to stand over the table. Torres, Paris, Kim and Ensign Vorik all tensed. “You do not like this food?” Harry asked.

Tom threw up his hands, “Hey I don't mean to complain. We've been through a lot and it's frankly amazing we're not all dead or drones given what has happened in the last week or two.”

Harry nodded, “The Collective does seem to squeeze all life out of life. They assimilate and yet ignore all the things which make life interesting. So afraid of death that they refuse to live. Like Voldemort. He wanted to be immortal and for what? He didn't live; he merely existed.”

Before any of the crew could speak, Harry thrust out his right hand and a long stick seemed to grow out of his hand. Harry twirled this stick for a bit, as if to see if he still could. Then, with a flourish, Harry made a sweeping gesture over the table's various plates. To everyone in the room's amazement, the bland food, smelling slightly of dead fish, transformed into a meal fit for the best restaurant from Paris on Earth.

“Paris. You should like, French food, yes?” Harry asked. He had merely flicked his hand and the stick had be reabsorbed into his hand.

Tom blinked in amazement, “Yes. I mean, sure!” Tom hesitantly took a bite of the food in front of him. His eyes immediately lit up. Talking through the food he was eagerly chewing, Tom mumbled, “This is incredible!”

Torres tried the food as well and had a similar reaction as did Kim. Only Ensign Vorik looked on dispassionately. “Harry Potter; are you a Q?”

Harry looked at the Vulcan. “I do not understand.”

Vorik gestured to the food in front of him, “You altered the matter in this food from one form to another. Such things have been seen on this ship before with a Q. Although he created food, not altered it.”

Harry shook his head, "I am not a Q. I cannot violate Gamp's law and create food."

Tom swallowed his food, 'Then what are you? Whatever you are, it's a great trick!"

Harry paused before suddenly smiling; the first honest look of emotion he'd shown since entering, “As the Keeper of the Keys of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry told me on my 11th birthday back in 1981, _‘Yer a wizard 'arry!’_ ”

An awestruck silence fell upon the room.

Harry's smiled faded to a sad look, “Sadly, I'm the last and only wizard left. Free of the Borg after all these years and yet I am, and always will be One of One.”

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


**STORY NOTES**

Because I’m OCD about certain things and did 17 years in the military as well as generally being a military history buff since the early 70’s, I’m making a few changes to the uniform…not that really matters given there are no illustrations to go along with it. Here is the breakdown and the color.

The following is predicated on that while officers get certain mandatory training, each officer has a different training track. So while being on the science track doesn’t mean you’ll always be posted to science duties or vessels, it’s definitely more likely.

 **Command Staff** : (Maroon) This is an inconsistent color, especially in Voyager. Why is JLT Paris wearing command colors instead of ops? Certainly Tuvok is security and tactical, but he’d seem to be the next in line for command after Janeway and Chakotay. For now, command staff maroon is only used by the Captain, XO and section chiefs. However, unlike canon where everyone wears that same purplish-grey undershirt, the captain and XO will wear an undershirt in the color of their training branch.

So Janeway would were science dark blue and Chakotay would probably were ops gold. This would also cause changes to certain individuals. Paris would wear ops gold. Tuvok and Torres would both wear command maroon with Tuvok have tactical gold and Torres having Engineering red.

 **Operations** : (Gold) Operations is broken into three sections, _ops_ , _tactical_ , and _personnel_. Ops is the generic slot for those who do things like drive the ship, communications and other non-engineering functions. Tactical has three components, they act as head of security (more on that below) work ship weapons and act as the intelligence section. Personnel takes care of all crew actions such as pay and all the paperwork that comes with any organization.

 **Science** : (Dark Blue & Light Blue) This is roughly broken into two categories which obviously has a lot of sub-sections. These are Physical Sciences and Life Sciences. Physical sciences wear the dark blue seen in Voyager while Life-Science wears the light blue the TOS Dr. McCoy wore.

 **Engineering** : (Red) This is broken into engineering, logistics and ship-systems. There is a bit of overlap between logistics and ops.

 **Medical** : (White) Never understood how Star Trek always went for science blue over the traditional white associated with the medical field for centuries. Unlike other sections who wear the same undershirt, Medical personnel’s shirt is red. (different shade from engineer, though) The Doctor, however, might wear the light blue of life-science to help alert people that ‘he’ isn’t a ‘real’ doctor. I don’t agree with that but I could see it given some of the ‘racism’ shown towards androids and the like in the show.

 **Counselor** : (Green) This would be the same green that Kirk sometimes wore. This uniform is worn by ship counselors, chaplains and MWR (Morale, Wealth, Recreation) officers. The last is used more on larger ships and is usually done as part of the personnel operations section on smaller ships. While a medical field, psychologists and other mental health professionals wear green as a way to keep from stigmatizing mental issues as a medical issue. Neelix would wear this uniform when wearing a Starfleet uniform as would Troi instead of her “bunny counselor” bodysuit.

 **Special Duties** : There are always certain jobs that don’t require a crew-member to be doing it full time. I see it that throughout a ship, there would be a requirement for a certain number of crew to have this additional training. Right now I see this as being denoted with symbols on their comm-badge (as some iterations have the rank there) or by colored cuffs like the old Star Fleet ranks. These special duties would be: security, medic, emergency, and training.

So instead of a bunch of security types all wearing ops like we usually see, security would come from all sections. When a security team is formed, the sections (at that time) best able to give up personnel would ‘fund’ the team. I’m betting Tuvok has a program (abetted by the operations personnel team) that help tell him who to call.

Likewise you’d have “combat medics” spread throughout the ship. I realized they had to fan-wank a need for the EMH but I cannot accept that any organization that had its root in the military would not mandate special medical emergency training for more people. It’s just common sense. Even with transporters, keeping all your medical personnel in one part of the ships means if you lose sick-bay, you lose all your medical personnel.

Emergency personnel are designated as ‘first-responders’ but not in the medical sense. These personnel are more like “emergency engineers” that can be directed to problems without pulling essential personnel off tasks. So if there was a hull breach, emergency teams would do all the functions (like help with evacuation, saving important items, etcetera) leaving the engineers free to work the problem) This would help explain (other than keeping costs down) why an ops guy like Harry is always running around helping with engineering.

Training specialists are ones who have taken specialize courses to be certified as trainers. Obviously Tuvok would be one of these.


	4. Voyeur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *** NOTE! *** This chapter contents sexual scenes for the purpose of character development. Any gratification a reader derives from it is solely their responsibility.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”_ **Roald Dahl** – British novelist, screenwriter and poet – 1916-1990

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-06-2020

_Captain’s Log, Star Date 51042.5. After almost a month of rest and restocking, Voyager is almost ready to leave Talaska IV. The people of the Norcadian colony and free port have been gracious hosts and never pushed for more technology sharing than we were willing to give. It was nice, for a change, to find a group who had left their world due to their pacifism and thus did not cast greedy eyes on Voyager. The many merchants and traders at the port were a treasure trove of information. We now have a much better understanding of where we are in this new region of the Delta Quadrant as well as having some idea of what we’re heading into. As much as I, and most of the crew, like to boldly go where no one has gone before, it’s nice to have a road map for a change._

_The Norcadian’s help was especially appreciated given the odd reticence of our new resident wizard, Harry Potter. In a way, he reminds me of Q. Not that he’s annoying and capricious, but that he seems to act like he cannot interfere too much. As if he does not want to steal Voyager’s story from us. While he has given us the probable location of the USS Equinox and where we can expect to find it given the travel time, Harry Potter has done little else._

_I have had to call many of the crew aside to keep them from badgering him. However, for all the attention, Harry Potter seems content to ghost through the ship, watching without participating. Tuvok feels that this is most likely due to suddenly being singular again after so much time being the Borg’s mental neighbor. For whatever the reason, Mr. Potter has been helpful in small ways and his Borg Ship “The Wart” has enabled Voyager to continue safely using many facets of the Borg tech Seven of Nine brought with her as a drone._

_As predicted, Seven of Nine’s journey into regaining her humanity has been rough. Still, she and the rest of the former drones are fitting in the best they can. While many have skills learned from the Borg, most are unused to a ship as modern as Voyager. Still, most are doing well. I must admit that Commander Tahl and I have an interesting relationship given if things had gone slightly differently, we might have been crossing torpedoes in anger across the Neutral Zone instead of shipmates in the Delta Quadrant. Luckily, all of the former drones are united in being refugees far from home, willing to put their differences behind them to work toward the day when we get home._

_For my part, I find myself adrift between being a Starfleet captain and accepting that to get back home will require changes I find difficult to make._

  
  


**JEFFRIES TUBE, SUB-SECTION A, USS VOYAGER ORBITING TALASKA IV SECTOR 32, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51043.2**

“Ensign Kim, for the past 143 minutes, you have spent an inordinate amount of time distracted from the duties assigned to you,” Seven said dispassionately while continuing to work on the isolinear manifold with a precision sonic spanner. “This distraction has been predominately spent staring at me. From the direction of your gaze, I conclude you are, as Lieutenant Paris might say, checking me out. Is this correct, Ensign?”

Kim blushed deeply as he stuttered lamely, “I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to say.”

Seven turned with a raised eyebrow, “I believe I was being quite concise. You have been observing me and focusing on areas known to cause arousal in human males. In the last 42.5 minutes, you have adjusted your uniform twelve times in your genital region suggesting you are exhibiting the male erection arousal affect.”

Kim’s eyes went wide, “I...I...wait. You weren’t looking at me most of the time!”

“My sensory capabilities far outstrip a baseline human such as yourself, Ensign Kim.” Seven said as she turned back to her work. “We are nearly at the point of the mandated break from your duties. I would suggest you perform a manual triggering of your reproductive organ. You will then be less distracted and thus able to more efficiently complete the tasks Lieutenant Commander Torres assigned us.”

Kim’s eyes, already wide, practically bugged out. “Are you saying that during my break that I should...jerk off?”

Seven turned her head to look at Kim. “I thought I made my analysis quite clear. Yes, I suggested you ‘jerk off’ as you colloquially put it. Given you have become sexually aroused from simply observing my form, I calculate that you will be able to achieve orgasm within the time frame of your mandated rest break and still have time to use the waste facilities and return to duty.”

“Wait! Wait! Are you honestly saying that while you keep working on that busted manifold that you expect me to just whip it out, whack off while watching you and then just hit the head and go back to work?” Kim said incredulously.

Seven turned completely towards ENS Kim, “Ensign, I was led to believe that while this is your first Starfleet assignment, that you had proven your worth on many occasions. However, I am finding this difficult to agree with given you seem incapable of processing a very straight forward process. You are having a hormonal event caused by my physical presence. It is interfering with your efficiency. Manually achieving an orgasm should be an attainable goal in the time allotted you, especially given the amount of time you have wasted observing my secondary sexual characteristics. Why are you having difficulty processing this, Ensign?” Seven asked archly.

“Because we aren’t drones, Seven! We don’t just casually do sexual activities in public simply to raise our efficiency rating!” Kim said heatedly.

“Which explains why humans achievement is so staggered and unreliable,” Seven said dryly. “It is disheartening to realize that the species I was born into has not moved past attitudes most advanced civilizations gave up prior to developing warp travel. Tell me, Ensign, do you have such difficulty keeping on task during your bridge assignments?”

“No. Why would I?” Kim asked obviously confused by the shift in the conversation.

“While my form falls well within the rating of desirable by human standards, there are many sentients aboard this vessel that match or exceed this general level of desirability. By many metrics, Commander Chakotay easily fits the male profile for desirability. He is a fit specimen of the human male, tested in battle, able to show a balance between passion and precision. Therefore, I am unclear why you have not been advised to ‘jerk off’ during your time on the bridge due to his presence. While Captain Janeway also falls into a similar category, I calculate that her being the captain could have a negative effect on you libido.”

Kim sputtered incoherently for a bit, “I can’t believe we’re having this discussion! And no, I don’t have any issues on the bridge because Chakotay is a guy!”

“Why should that be such a detrimental factor? Certainly, sexual dimorphism gives human a default for sexual attraction towards the opposite sex. However, you are a sentient being. Your Federation is supposedly built on the idea of the betterment of all. This includes moving towards a high level of self-actualization. By rejecting the potential of a rewarding relationship due to sharing a gender is inefficient,” Seven said pedantically as she returned to her task.

Kim shook his head, “I thought the Borg didn’t believe in love and here you are giving me relationship advice when you’re not trying to get me to jerk off in this Jeffries tube!”

“While it is true the Borg as a Collective do not see the value of love, that is due to our status as a Hive Mind. Love between individuals is irrelevant in the Collective. However, the Borg have assimilated thousands of species, most have a concept of love. While often capricious and counter-productive, it would be illogical to try and refute that the concept of love drives many individuals to feats they might not contemplate or be able to perform without it. As you are an individual and not a drone, I do not see the value of denying the possibility of a relationship, sexual or not, with another simply because they share your gender.”

Kim looked embarrassed, “Look, I’m not saying I’m biased against homosexuals. I just prefer women, that’s all.”

“Indeed,” Seven said curtly. “However, given your current single condition and the larger number of males to females ratio on Voyager, I have to wonder how that strategy is working out for you? I would conclude from your actions that you would prefer a female of a different species than a potentially compatible male of your own. While not implying love between species is lesser, it does seem that one would have a statistically higher chance with one’s own species...that is if the culture was advanced enough to view the concept of love being more divorced from the physical act of sex.”

Kim shook his head, “Look, I don’t feel that I should feel that I’m somehow inefficient because I am not sexually aroused by Commander Chakotay. I’m also not going to jerk off just so you can feel like we’re going to meet some arbitrary efficiency goal!”

“Then in the future, I will suggest that you be assigned duties with male crew-members,” Seven said as she finished the work on the manifold and flipped the panel shut. “That way you will not be distracted, you will not have to masturbate to alleviate sexual tension and you will be able to stay on task. I will mention it to Lieutenant Commanders Tuvok and Torres. If you cannot efficiently work around female crew-members, perhaps your additional duties as an emergency responder should be revoked.”

“What? Seven you’re crazy! I am having a normal biological reaction that is common in normal humans. If you weren’t fill with Borg doodads, you’d know that!” Kim snarled out.

“So is the fact that I am still partially Borg and therefore represent some form of potential threat may be causing you to become sexually aroused? Interesting.” Seven mused.

“What? No! Don’t trying and analyze me! Humans don’t come with a manual with easy on and off switches! You know what? You might think this is about efficiency but this is harassment! I don’t need to stand here and be insulted and told to preform sexual acts while you watch! I’m out of here!” Kim said before turning and angrily stalking off down the corridor and then climbing down out of sight.

Seven turned back to her work. “Excellent. Without Ensign Kim’s lackluster performance, I will be able to complete all of our assigned tasks 17.92% ahead of schedule. Lieutenant Commander Torres will undoubtedly be pleased with my efficiency,” she said softly to herself.

While Seven’s ability to sense things was markedly better than a normal human, she had no idea that her interaction with ENS Kim had been observed by a being with brilliant green eyes.

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


**DINING HALL, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51044.9**

“I must admit it is difficult to know whether I should congratulate Warrior Korath for his commendable effort or express concern regarding Centurion Helev’s performance,” Tuvok said as he watched as B’Elanna, Warg and Ventrys roasted Korath in a boisterous show of insults and counter-insults. In stark contrast, the former Romulan Centurion looked impassive at his arm-wrestling win as he massaged his arm.

“I think congratulations would be in order for both sides. The Klingons seem to have barely registered that they had been assimilated. While they are loud, boorish and boisterous, they have adapted back to their old life well. In Helev’s case, his new arm is taking some time for him to adjust to. Many of us former drones are having such issues. I myself, for example, keep looking at things expecting to be able to scan it with my ocular implant that I no longer have,” Commander Tahl said in the dry manner Tuvok found refreshing. While often seemingly calm, Romulans were known for being like a smoldering volcano, seemingly quiet but able to erupt at any moment. It appeared that being assimilated truly had softened this aspect of Romulan behavior.

“I am sure that it must be jarring to go from using Borg technology which you ‘learned’ at a cellular level and now having to deal with Federation technology. Familiar but different,” Tuvok said as he slowly shifted his position to watch JLT Paris. Paris had a sour look on his face as he drank alone while watching B’Elanna join the Klingon’s in a favorite drinking song.

“Yes...Federation technology,” Tahl said pensively.

“Commander?” Tuvok prompted.

“The rest of my brethren have not realized the trap we are in. If we are to return to the Alpha Quadrant, we will have to integrate quickly. To do this, we will become quite familiar with the amazing technology aboard Voyager. Tell me, Security Chief Tuvok, if after a few years of this, we found a wormhole back to the Alpha Quadrant. Would you expect Starfleet to expatriate us? Or the Klingons back to the Empire?”

Tuvok was silent for a moment, “No. No, I do not believe that would be the course of action taken. Logically, it would be better to keep you confined in some way.”

“Or perhaps have an ‘accident’ in transport to our confinement,” Tahl said with a slight smirk.

“If you are trying to goad me, Commander, it will not work. However, you may be surprised to find that such an accident, while low in probability, is well within the possible outcomes. In my time performing counter-intelligence and espionage actions against the Maquis, I was privy to many actions most sentients of the Federation would not expect Starfleet to undertake,” Tuvok said solemnly.

Tahl laughed, “I have to say, Tuvok. I did not expect to find someone who had undertook the Vulcan Kolinahr ritual through to the end to be so forthcoming or personable.”

Tuvok shook his head, “It is a common misconception that the ritual purges Vulcans of all emotion. It is, indeed, almost the opposite. As a Romulan, you are fully aware of our shared depth of emotions. Emotions which, unfettered, would make a Klingon or Andorian seem placid. No, the Kolinahr is a crucible where the emotions, bold and raw are embraced, tasted, but finally mastered. I can hate the Borg as deeply as any sentient and love my wife like few sentients can. However, because of the Kolinahr, I see these emotions as only a part of a larger, logical whole. I am their master, they my subjects that make up the whole community that is Tuvok.”

“I would expect that has helped you deal with humans then,” Tahl said. It was obvious he was mildly surprised at Tuvok expressing so much of what was usually deeply personal to Vulcans.

Tuvok’s face turned back to Paris, an annoyed look gracing it for a moment, “Indeed. That humans succeed more often than not reminds me of a Terran military aphorism that quantity has a quality all of its own. While humans mostly make daily errors in judgment, mired as they are in emotions and customs they refuse to give up, they still manage as a species to challenge the universe.”

“Well this Potter wizard is certainly a challenge to almost all my core beliefs,” Tahl said as he sipped his tea and turned his gaze to the wizard who was sitting alone in his customary table close to the door. A chair and table which he had transmuted into archaic, wooden versions. The comfortable cushions were red, trimmed with gold. As always, the green-eyed human was alternating between reading from a PADD and people-watching.

As Tahl watched, Torres and Warg walked up with a jug and began discussing something. After a moment, the wizard shook his head but then his face lit up and said something that Tahl could not hear. Whatever the question had been, both Torres and Warg seemed agreeable and the Klingon held out the jug of some toxic Klingon brew the replicator’s had somehow managed. The wizard calmly reached out and the odd stick Tahl had seen him use before, grew out of his palm. A few swishes and a flick later, the wand disappeared and the wizard went back to reading.

“What do you think he just did?” Tahl asked Tuvok.

“Something I believe will be amusing. Regardless of his usual stoic nature, from discussions with Mister Potter, I have learned his father, god-father and two good friends from his magical school were known for their jokes and pranks. Mister Potter has shown a penchant to occasionally partake in that legacy. However, I believe he does it because he enjoys making other people laugh,” Tuvok explained.

The Romulan and Vulcan watched as the Klingons (and B’Elanna) poured out a slug of the reddish liquor. With a boisterous cry of, “ _'IwlIj jachjaj!_ ” the four slammed their drinks down. Everyone in the room watched as all four seemed to pause, waiting for something to happen...which something promptly did. Korath began to beat at his chest as steam poured out of his ears as it did the three others. B’Elanna was fanning her face while Ventrys coughed a bit and tried to clear her throat. Only Warg seemed unaffected as he beamed at the watching crowd. He raised the jug and cried out, “ _Hija’_ ... Fire-Whiskey!”

“Fascinating. I deduce that this Fire-Whiskey was an adult wizarding beverage popular among Mr. Potter’s kind given he was able to transfigure whatever the Klingons had been previously drinking,” Tuvok said.

“Interesting. How did you come to that conclusion?” Tahl asked.

“Mister Potter replied negatively to their initial query. I would suspect that they asked if Mister Potter could change their drink into Blood-Wine. Something our replicators cannot do to their satisfaction. B’Elanna had mentioned this early on in our journey. Given it is doubtful Mister Potter ever had any contact with the Klingon drink, he would be unable to use his magic to affect the needed change.”

“Well that’s encouraging in a way,” Tahl said after a moment, “Mister Potter’s abilities smack too much of that of the Q. Like your Starfleet, the Romulan Imperium has had too many dealing with that renegade from the Continuum. Seeing Potter having limits makes him seem less god-like.”

“I agree. However, the more I get to know Mister Potter, the more I can say I believe that being like the Q is the last thing on his mind.” Tuvok said as he took note that Potter was watching Paris. It seemed the security chief had not been the only one to notice that Paris was stewing in a toxic brew of emotions watching B’Elanna drink and sing with her mother’s people.

**OoOoO**

Tom rubbed his sore jaw and tried to remember if the Doctor would be activated now or not. He wasn’t in the mood for a lecture or the Doctor’s disappointed sighs. Maybe instead he could just nip into one of the emergency medical packs throughout the ship…no then he’d have to log why he used a dermal regenerator. Blast B’Elanna! She was the one suddenly cavorting around and yet he was the one sporting a hurt jaw from her backhand!

“You are setting yourself up for failure, Mr. Paris,” came a soft but firm voice from behind him.

Tom turned to find Harry Potter looking at him with a sad look on his face. Where had he come from? A lot of Voyager crew-members had commented how their resident wizard seemed to be able to just appear and disappear when one wasn’t looking. This was the first time it had happened to him, though.

“Oh and how am I doing that, exactly?” Tom asked. Great. He could sense the paternal lecture coming. Harry even had the same sort of look his father would always get before a dressing down.

Harry shook his head slowly, “Well right there is a good example. You don’t seem to have a clue, do you? I can see it in your eyes. You’re already blaming someone else for what just happened. Yet did you ever think that perhaps your own preconceptions have led you to almost having your jaw broken?”

Tom through up his hands, “And there it is! Welcome to my life, Mister Wizard. No matter where I go, I can’t get away from the people judging me! So are you here to fill in for my father, eh Mister Wizard? Are you going to tell me how disappointed you are in me? Because you know what? I’ve been hearing that song and dance my whole life and I’m not about to start listening to another round of it from someone like you.”

Harry’s eyes narrowed but he calmly asked, “Someone like me? What could I know? Well…let me point out that I know a lot. Don’t let the face fool you, Mister Paris. I’m the oldest living human in the Universe right now at a spry age of 394. I was over the century mark when I was almost assimilated by the Borg. In my time, I’ve seen a lot of humanity’s best and worst play out in front of me. I’ve been there, doing some of the best along with some of the worst. So perhaps out of other people with an opinion, you might want to give mine a bit more attention.”

Tom scoffed, “Well far be it for a lowly ex-felon to argue with the Borg Space Wizard. Should we adjourn to the holodeck so I can at least put on my Captain Proton outfit?”

Harry went deathly still. Tom had to admit that as angry as he was, this sudden stillness shook him in a fundamental way. As if he was a small creature who suddenly realized a large and hungry predator was right next to him.

The moment passed and Harry sighed, “You don’t own B’Elanna, Mr. Paris. You seem to think you do. You think you have some sort of proprietary claim because you two have been doing this subtle dance without being overt about it. Maybe you feel there is an understanding between you and her…but here’s the thing. Have you ever actually talked about it? Or have you just been acting like Sixth Years and ‘dancing’ without ever talking?”

Tom scowled, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Harry laughed, “Oh I do, Mr. Paris. I do indeed because I watched my two best friends dance this dance back when I was 16. That may have been 378 years ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. A lot of heartache could have been saved if my friends had actually talked about their feelings. Sadly, they both had issues and I was far too messed up from being raised in an abusive home to know what to do. Now? Now I can see that you are angry that you think B’Elanna is reneging on some sort of unspoken pact and so you lashed out at her.”

Tom tried to respond to this but Harry held up a hand, “Oh, don’t get me wrong. B’Elanna is just like you in being good at running from her problems. However, in this case, I think she’s allowing herself some freedom to be someone different than what she has made herself into to survive. Perhaps she’s also getting two birds for one stone in doing this with someone from her mother’s people who is also one that has no preconceptions about her. If you’d think about it, I’m sure you’d see the appeal.”

Tom snorted, “Warg and Korath just waltz in, sing a few songs and I’m supposed to see the appeal that B’Elanna is probably getting all bitey with a guy who she barely knows?”

Harry snorted, “Angry that someone is stealing out of your playbook? Let’s be honest, Mr. Paris, you’re a charmer. You come in with your easy ways, your award-winning smile and you can make a gal feel like she’s your entire world. Whether she’s a buck-tooth, bushy-haired bookworm or a half human-Klingon mix, it can be intoxicating to have a guy like you sweep into their life.”

Tom again through up his hands! “That’s what I’m saying! I’m the one who has been giving her the attention! Yet some Klingons show up and she’s off drinking and carousing! She’s probably off throwing things at Warg right now! It’s not fair!”

Harry scowled, “Yet you only began to be interested in B’Elanna after your efforts to woo Kes failed.

Tom blinked at this, “What?”

Harry’s face fell into a lop-sided grin, “Oh yes Mister Paris, I’ve accessed all of Voyagers records. I am aware of all the ship’s dirty laundry and where all the metaphorical bodies are buried. You wooed Kes even though she was with Neelix. A guy who had a hard time standing up to you because his own issues made him feel it was only a matter of time before Kes would wise up and leave him for someone better. Yes, Mister Paris. I’ve seen this dance hundreds of times before. So believe me when I tell you that you’re about to jump off a cliff and on the way down you will blame everyone but yourself.”

Tom’s face felt hot like the anger that shot through him. He lunged forward and pushed Harry back with both his hands, “Oh so I’m the bad guy here, huh? What are you going to do, Mister Wizard? Put me on report with Tuvok? I’m the one sporting the injury here, pal! I don’t need someone from back in the 20  th  Century to tell me how to live my life. News flash! We’re more advanced here in the future so I don’t need some throwback playing at ship’s counselor telling me what to do!”

Tom made to push Harry back again when in a flurry of movement, Tom found himself slammed up against the bulkhead, a bright, silvery dagger against his throat. Another was held right below his crotch.

“What can I do?” Harry hissed out, his green eyes glowing with power. “I can gut you like a fish like I did so many times during the Eugenics Wars. I tried to do what was right instead of what was easy. Well I don’t know if it was right, but it was easy to rack up a large kill count. So much so that my enemies called me the Reaper.”

Tom gulped as Harry laughed a deep, horrifying laugh. “How little did they know how true that was! Master of Death! That’s what the old legends said, one of my titles I’m least fond of. With a but a twitch, this poor 20  th  century barbarian could put you in the morgue for the Doctor to pick over. Maybe B’Elanna will shed a tear or two.”

Harry leaned in and whispered into Tom’s ear, “My best mate? Ron Weasley was like you. Oh he wasn’t a charmer. He wasn’t a Gilderoy Lockhart knock-off like you. But he was aces at blaming others, never owning up to his own flaws. Even when my other best friend saw it in her heart to take him back after a terrible betrayal, he still couldn’t get over feeling cheated somehow. He had issues, real ones that if he’d stopped blaming others for, he could have transcended. We all were broken by the War. Many of us were broken before it. With work, we got through it. The problem is he never put in the work. He always took what was easy over what was right.”

Tom gurgled, partly in pain but mostly in fear as he felt the knife starting to cut into his throat. But he couldn’t look away. It was like Harry’s eyes had him trapped.

“Ron was a good bloke, nonetheless. He had his issues and he had his triumphs and through it all, he was my best mate. Still, when it came down to the wire, when every magical being on Earth was in danger, do you think he jumped in to help?” Harry asked.

Tom tried to say something, anything but only an incoherent mumble came out. He could feel the lower blade somehow cutting into his pants with Harry merely holding it up against him.

“No, Mister Paris. He didn’t. He let his fears, jealousy and feeling of being owed allow him to be convinced **_I_ ** was the threat. **_I_ ** was the one who had to be put down. Even as he’d always talked himself up due to his relationship to my own fame, Ron deep down knew he would always be in my shadow. And what better way to gain glory, to gain what he felt due him than take out the fabled Boy-Who-Lived and save the world?” Harry said in a flat voice. “So I killed him. Just like I killed a lot of former friends who simply believed the wrong thing at the worst time ever.”

Harry suddenly backed away from Tom. He pointed at him with the dagger in his right hand, “I sent everything I ever loved away. I did horrible things to try and save the best of Earth. I lost it all, to a portal of no return, to war, to nuclear fire and then finally to the Borg. All I have from my former life is the Stone, the Cloak and the Wand…oh and these goblin forged beauties. Reminders of when I reaped enemies like a scythe through wheat. I cut down the men and women who were drenched in privilege, filled with self-righteousness, and tainted by hate of anything not like them.”

Harry did a showy flip of his daggers that ended with them being slipped into sheaves on his belt that then disappeared to Tom’s astonishment. “So, Tom Paris, you would do well to heed this warning. I have seen it play out too many times before. You need to look outside yourself and deal with people as people and not as some resource for you to use to advance yourself. Do not let your self-absorption, your sense of entitlement rule you. For it will destroy you like it did my friend Ron. You think you’re interested in B’Elanna, but we both know she’s the current girl you can’t have…and you love chasing after what you can’t have, can’t you Tom?’

Tom glared at Harry but said nothing. Both men knew that in this case, Harry was right.

Harry held Tom’s gaze before suddenly turning and walking back towards the mess hall.

Tom let out the breath that he’d been holding. He reached up and found that he was bleeding slightly from his neck. After this, he’d take whatever crap the Doctor wanted to give out. He just wanted to get away from that green-eyed killing machine!

**OoOoO**

Harry walked into the mess hall and found it to be mostly empty. A few gamma shift personnel eating early. He walked over to Neelix and clapped him on the shoulder, “You’re a good man, Neelix. You might not always believe it, but you are. Wherever she is, whatever she is now, I’m sure Kes is proud of the time she spent with you.”

Harry patted the Talaxian’s shoulder twice before turning and going back out the door he’d just come through.

Neelix stared at the door with a bemused look on his face.

“What was that all about?” Chell, the Bolian, former Maquis member asked as he refilled his coffee cup.

Neelix shook his head, “I’m not sure. However, I’m thinking it had something to do with Lieutenant Paris.”

Chell’s face lit up in understanding, “Ah yes…Mister Paris did try to poach your patch. Very unsporting. About time he got a bit of a comeuppance. Humans, so arrogant. For all the good of it, the Federation is mostly a vehicle for humans to cram their beliefs down the rest of the Quadrant’s throats. And the rest of us let them do it!”

Neelix frowned and was about to rebuttal that statement when he paused. It was a bit true. Even as much as he adored Captain Janeway, it was true that she forced her moral compass on her crew and on the Delta Quadrant. He’d never say it out loud, but he had to wonder about how they had dealt with Species 8472. Had they really meant to destroy all life or just the Borg? They should have tried to negotiate more with them to find out. They had been an enigma. A threat certainly but should the captain have thrown away a chance to humble the Borg so quickly?

Neelix sighed and went into the pantry. It was difficult sometimes to be the only Delta Quadrant individual on the ship at times. The Alpha Quadrant had suffered little, by comparison, from the Borg. If they had more experience like the people of the Delta Quadrant had, Captain Janeway might have given more thought to allowing the Borg to be brought low for longer.

How many Delta Quadrant races would be assimilated that could have been saved? How many would curse the name of Voyager before they were forcibly taken into the Borg Collective? Did this fact keep Captain Janeway up at night or was it simply for the Greater Good and so made it alright?

Neelix made a small noise of disgust. Such thoughts were, as Ensign Campbell like to say, was above his pay grade. As Neelix began to prepare for the rush of Gamma shift, he tried to brush off the memories of all the nights he had been kept awake, wondering at the cost of Captain Janeway’s actions might be.

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


**ENGINEERING JUNCTION A113, SUB-SECTION A, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51046.3**

“Commander Torres; might I ask a personal question?” Seven of Nine asked as she calibrated the tricoder to better detect micro-fractures.

B’Elanna looked up from her own calibrations, “A personal question Seven? How unlike you. Sure; go ahead.”

Seven paused for a moment, “Two related questions, if I may. The first is I have observed you displaying certain facial and bodily motions related to pain. Given the unofficial crew information network, it would seem likely that you have been engaging in Klingon sexual relations. If so, I do have a dermal regenerator which I can easily mask its use from the medical logs. Being in pain will reduce your efficiency even though my readings support the theory you might treat such pains as a badge of honor. Do you wish me to treat you?”

B’Elanna blinked at this before quipping, “That’s one for the books. Never heard ship gossip being seen as an ‘unofficial crew information network’ before. As to your question yes I’ve been doing a little of throwing down and trying my hand at the biting. It’s not something I’ve ever had a chance to explore. Also, Klingon genes and honor be damned, feel free to hit me up with some sweet dermal regenerative love!”

Seven gave a curt nod before retrieving the medical device from her kit. Her hands danced over the device before it gave out a beep. “Computer, activate a level 5 warning field at a distance of 10 meters.”

“Please state the nature of the warning field,” the computer asked.

“Delicate calibrations and repair work in progress ,” Seven replied.

“Acknowledged. Level 5 warning field activated,” the computer confirmed.

If B’Elanna had eyebrows, one would have quirked up in surprise, “And the reason for all that?”

“Your injuries will necessitate removal of most of your uniform. The prudent course of action was to keep any crew-members from observing your state of undress along with the reason for a medical procedure to be used on your person,” Seven replied matter-of-factually.

B’Elanna nodded at that as she began to take off her uniform, “Good thinking, Seven. I may not fully trust you or forgive you for your multitude of sins done as a drone, but I can’t fault you for your sense of proper procedures.”

“Your animosity is duly noted, Commander,” Seven said flatly.

B’Elanna laughed even as she winced in pain as she took her undershirt off, “Don’t think you’re getting special privileges, Seven. I mostly hate and mistrust everyone.”

“That I have previously noted on many occasions,” Seven said in the dry tone B’Elanna had come to see as what came to as close as Seven ever got to a joking tone.

B’Elanna snorted at this before standing still to allow Seven to work. In truth, her injuries were considered mild by Klingon sexual standards. She wasn’t fully Klingon and Korath had confessed before they parted that he felt like an outsider wearing a Klingon skin. B’Elanna had already heard a few of the former drones make similar statements. Some, like Sub-Commander Dhael, Arrain Decius and Ensign Mortley, slept in a modified regeneration chamber. While they no longer had any Borg implants, the Doctor theorized that their brains hadn’t yet adapted back to normal sleeping. While the former drones looked as they had been cured, it was obvious to all of the crew that they were not even close to being back to normal.

As Seven worked on the various bite-wounds on her neck and shoulder area, B’Elanna found herself mostly staring at Seven’s ample bosom given their height differences. It got her thinking.

After five minutes or so, Seven deactivated the dermal regenerator, “Regeneration is complete. Full functionality should be restored.”

B’Elanna blinked at this. She’d been deep in thought. She tested herself with a few careful stretches. “I have to hand it to you, Seven. You might give the Doctor a run for his money. Of course I’m betting you know all about the human body and how best to disable, kill or assimilate it?”

Seven gave a curt nod, “That is correct.”

B’Elanna was about to reach for her uniform when, unexpectedly, Seven reached out and took her right wrist in her hand, “Commander. You have been intently observing my secondary sexual characteristics in a manner I have had to have words with Ensign Kim. Is my physical form so distracting to even those sharing my gender?”

B’Elanna looked at Seven’s hand on her wrist. The other woman quickly let go with an odd look on her face. If it had been anyone else, B’Elanna might have thought it to be embarrassment. Still Seven was very much in her personal space.

She looked at Seven’s chest for a second with a smirk before looking Seven in the eyes, “I did some digging into the security tapes after Kim whined about you to me. Personally, I think that was an amazing way to deal with him. However, as to your question, let me asked you a counter-question.”

Seven nodded, “I will comply”

“Why do you have tits to begin with?” B’Elanna said in a serious tone even as her mouth was fighting a smirk.

Seven cocked her head to the side slightly, “I do not understand your query.”

B’Elanna huffed, “Come now Seven, it’s a simple question. A simple question but one that raises a host of other questions. Again, why do you have tits? And not just wimpy ones like I got saddled with. Oh no; you got these babies that remind me of my mother’s.”

Seven’s free eyebrow went up as B’Elanna cupped Seven’s breasts as she said all this.

B’Elanna gave Seven’s breasts a squeeze. “I wish I had gotten a set of these from my mom. Just another thing for Klingons to belittle me for. And these are a pair of beauties. Might as well call you Rack of Two instead of Seven of Nine.”

Seven seemed bemused if anything else as she just stood there as B’Elanna massaged her breasts.

“You see, while you were working on me, it struck me. Why do you have breasts? It’s one thing for an adult drone to have them. Maybe it’s not efficient to get rid of them. But you were assimilated before puberty _**and**_ you went through a lot of time in a maturation chamber.”

Seven frowned slightly, “That is correct.”

“Take it off,” B’Elanna said as she motioned for Seven to remove the top part of her body suit.

“Commander?” Seven asked.

“I want to prove a point,” B’Elanna said even as she unconsciously had begun to finger the nubs of Seven’s nipples through the catsuit fabric.

Seven hesitated for a bit before woodenly stating, “I will comply.” With a few efficient moves, she stood before B’Elanna nude from the waist up.

B’Elanna nodded with a satisfied smile, “I was right!” She began to trace a finger up and down one of Seven’s breasts, “Your tits are perfect! Not a trace of any Borg implants. Look! Even your nipples are getting hard! I’m wondering if you could still nurse?”

“I am unclear at what I am supposed to be seeing. As you say, my breasts, indeed all of my secondary sexual characteristics are in working order. I believe it is why the likes of Ensign Kim have difficulty in my presence. I am well aware that even with my obvious Borg implants, I would not be considered anything but attractive,” Seven said pedantically.

“That’s just the point! Why would a drone who goes through a maturation chamber need any of that? The space your tits take up could be used for other things or just left off entirely. Plus, as you like to say, ‘secondary sexual characteristics’ require hormones to kick off. Why would the Borg bother? Why not force you into maturity but without the sex hormones? It’s not like drones breed.”

Seven’s brows knitted in thought, “You are correct. It would be more efficient and would further block me from my biological ties to humanity which are irrelevant in the Borg Collective.”

B’Elanna began to lightly finger both of Seven’s nipples, “Does that feel good Seven? They’re nice and hard. I know I like it when mine get teased like this.”

Seven paused before taking a deep breath but said in a calm voice, “It is indeed a pleasant feeling. It is not something I had explored before.”

B’Elanna chuckled at that, “Yet you were the one to tell Kim to jack off. Maybe you should take a long bath and have some private time before regeneration. Who knows how your efficiency might rise?”

Seven gave B’Elanna a flat look but said nothing as the other woman continued to play with Seven’s breasts.

“So again I’m wondering about things. Here you are with a smashing ass and a lovely set of tits and I have to ask why? The Doctor isn’t programmed to edit for vanity so I have to wonder about those pouty, kissable lips and those rocking hips. It’s like you were designed by a committee to hit all the sexy metrics. Yet none of that is relevant to the Borg, is it Seven?”

Seven simply shook her head, her breathing coming a little more erratically.

B’Elanna leaned against the taller woman and whispered, “You like how this feels don’t you Seven? Kes had to help you remove things that were keeping from becoming human again. So why would the Borg allow you to keep parts of you functioning that remind you of the pleasures of the flesh?”

“I...do not know. You are correct. It would be more efficient to limit...ah...such things to keep from inadvertent reversion to experiencing pleasure,” Seven said as her eyes fluttered closed.

B’Elanna’s face broke into an evil smile, “And are you experiencing pleasure, Seven? Does this make you feel good?”

To B’Elanna’s surprise Seven actually moaned. What happened next surprised her even more. Seven’s hand snaked out and into B’Elanna’s panties and began to move as if Seven had been fingering women all her life. “It appears I am not the only one experiencing pleasure, Commander. You are exhibiting all the classic stages of desire. It would be prudent to continue so we will not be distracted from our...ah...ah…duties.”

B’Elanna’s head was going in about ten different directions at once. But she realized that Seven had been right. For all her questions as to why Seven was so...hot, it didn’t hide the fact that she was horny and Seven was pushing her buttons like only a few women at Starfleet Academy or in the Maquis had accomplished. With a moan of her own, B’Elanna leaned forward and began to lick and nibble on one of Seven’s hard nipples as she continued to stroke the other.

For the next few minutes, neither spoke as Seven began to grind against B’Elanna’s thigh as her breathing began to become more erratic. However it was B’Elanna who shuddered in pleasure as the orgasm Seven’s fingers produced shot through her and she moaned into Seven’s breasts.

For a moment, the two women leaned against each other before Seven gently pushed B’Elanna away, “Commander. The Doctor has been pushing me to explore more of my human side. To do this, I am in need of your assistance” Seven then wiggled out of her catsuit to leave her naked in front of B’Elanna. “I have not achieved satisfaction. Am I correct to believe that you will be able to use oral manipulation to allow me to climax properly?”

B’Elanna grinned like a wolf, “Oh you don’t know how right you are!” before kneeling and taking Seven’s hips in her hands as she drove her tongue deep into the folds of Seven’s sex.

**OoOoO**

Both women sighed as their mutual orgasm subsided and they began to untangle from the scissoring position they had been locked into for ten satisfying minutes. They both were covered with sweat even as Seven’s shoulder and her left breast had slight bite marks in them.

B’Elanna sighed happily as she laid on the deck as she tried to figure out which excuse would be best to explain this work shift being a complete botch. Well she wasn’t the Chief Engineer for nothing. If anything, she could put herself on report. That would at least shut Tuvok up.

“I am surprised this happened so soon,” a soft voice said from the other side of Seven.

B’Elanna’s eyes snapped open to find Harry Potter sitting Indian style against the far bulkhead.

Both women began to struggle to get up but before they could do much Harry waved them back, “Do not get up on my account. Enjoy this moment. It is a big step for both of you.”

“And did you get your jollies from our big step?” B’Elanna hissed out.

Harry face was impassive, “I wish I had. Your lovemaking was raw and pure. Something I did not expect Seven to be able to do at this stage. That you were the one to bring this forth, however, is not too surprising. All three of us are, in a sense, two semi-incompatible people.”

“Explain!” Seven said curtly. It was obvious that her nudity did not bother her.

“You are human and Borg yet not truly either. The same with B’Elanna. Part human and Klingon but not belonging to either. I was raised in a terrible, mundane environment only to find out that I came from a long line of wizards. All the way till the end, I struggled with not feeling comfortable in either the mundane or magical world. Now I live among normal people but am apart from them as I am functionally immortal. I live but I do not age,” Harry explained.

Both women traded looks with each other. Finally B’Elanna spoke up, “So are we just a hobby to you? Like bird-watching?”

Harry shook his head, “No. Please, I do not want you to think my being here was anything but out of concern for Seven. That being said, you are an interesting person B’Elanna. One who reminds me of a good friend who ran from life. Yet where he, like Tom Paris, never seemed able to break the cycle, here on Voyager it seems you are slowly finding a path for yourself.”

B’Elanna scowled but then her face softened, “Look...I’m shit at saying thank you but Seven here showed me the security feed of what you did with Tom. While I don’t need someone defending my honor, I want to say I appreciate that you tried with him. I do like Tom, but…”

“But you feel he was another one in a long line of self-sabotaging relationships,” Harry finished.

B’Elanna looked shocked at this before her face softened, ‘Yeah...something like that.”

Harry got up and his wand grew out of his hand. A few swishes and not only did both women find themselves cleaned up but fully clothed as well. “Ladies, I apologize again for interrupting this moment between the two of you. However, I felt for Seven’s sake I wanted to tell her that this was a good step for her. She could easily choose to be more like a Vulcan and embrace the colder, more logical Borg side of herself. Yet it is moments like this which show that for all the hassles and illogical nature of humanity, it has its transcendent moments. Times like this may be just a treasured memory but they might lead to love. Who can say? All I can say is that you, Seven, have a better idea of what this side of the fence looks like.”

Seven slowly nodded, “I believe I understand.”

Harry’s face broke into a rare smile, “Good. I am reminded of a show my youngest loved. She and I would watch it together and it was a time I hope both of you can find something like. A time that to an outsider might seem trivial or banal but is truly one of the moments you remember and treasure always. So this show was all about having feet in two worlds. I am reminded of a piece of advice that I believe fits both of you. _‘You are not two people. You are not one person. You are an_ _ **experience**_ _. Make sure it is a_ _ **good**_ _experience.’_ ”

Both women looked at each other. An unspoken something passed between them.

Harry nodded, “Seven, for all that people like the Doctor, Neelix and Captain Janeway may push you; do not let them push you to go faster than you are ready for. They are not walking your path. Only you can truly decide how slow or fast you need to go.”

Harry turned to B’Elanna, “Your questions about Seven have a _**lot**_ of merit. I will meditate on them. Again, that someone like you that spans so many divides saw this when no one else did does not surprise me. When your thoughts turn dark with self-loathing or doubt, remember this time. The time when you spotted something no one else did. Something that may be particularly important.”

Harry turned to go but before he took more than a few steps, B’Elanna called out, “So you didn’t feel _**anything**_ while watching us? Really? Are we so dull and boring that you felt nothing?”

Harry turned with a sad look on his face, “Maybe some time in the future I will be able to remember this moment and need to take a cold shower. For now, I am still trying to remember what it is to be human again. Seeing the two of you together in such a way certainly helped, I’m sure. So even as I spied on you, thank you for sharing it with me.” Harry then turned and walked away.

Both women watched him go without a word between them. Finally Seven turned to B’Elanna, “As I have mentioned, the Doctor has been working with me to regain my humanity. Today, I am sure, would be seen as progress. However I find myself...reticent in mentioning this progress to the Doctor.”

B’Elanna laughed, “Don’t worry Seven. Hologram or not, his Hippocratic sub-routines will keep him from gossiping. If you feel comfortable enough to tell him, I’m okay with it. Now, I think we have enough time to do enough work to before we had that ‘unfortunate mechanical failure” we’re going to log. It’s a good thing you set up that warning field. Even so, we just couldn’t get things to work.”

Seven’s eyebrow went up as she cocked her head to the side, “Am I to take it that you shall work while I manufacture the appropriate failure?”

B’Elanna smirked, “As I said, Seven. You know your procedures! Let’s get to work. Thanks to Harry we have more time as we won’t need to squeeze in the emergency spill shower stall together.”

“More is the pity,” Seven said absently as she turned towards her maintenance kit.

A shocked look graced B’Elanna’s face as she watched Seven being to rummage through her kit. Had she heard that right? Had Seven almost flirted with her? She stared at that smashing ass a bit longer before shaking her head. Tom, Korath and now Seven of all people. Maybe Captain Janeway had been right. They _**had**_ been on red alert for too long.

B’Elanna turned back towards her own work, a slight smile on her face. At least while she was in a _**very**_ confused place, it had been far too long since her needs, so long suppressed had been so deliciously satisfied. She hadn’t been with a woman since her early Maquis days. She’d forgotten how good it could be.

She hoped that Harry the Wizard might be able to magic up a way to let this quiet time continue a bit longer before the Delta Quadrant went back to chewing on them like its favorite chew toy.

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


**CHAPTER NOTES**

My wife has called Seven of Nine “Rack of Two” for many, many years. I hope some of you find the hidden Star Trek joke hidden in this chapter. That and the Cartoon Network reference.

Also, I will be discussing Tom Paris in next chapters notes. Fear not, people, I’m not going to be _Tom!Bashing_ but I do have some issues with the character.

**RANKS**

Because I’m OCD, I’ve always felt that the ranks in Starfleet made sense given that while starships are ships, getting into space would be sort of a joint Air Force/Navy endeavor. USAF has ranks built off the Army just as the Marines have similar ranks as well. That and Star Trek almost always showed officers. Except for a few “Crewman X” or Chief O’Brien, everyone in Star Trek seems to be an officer.

I think one of the big things to try and predict is how gender-neutral terms will continue to grow in our global society. Given that even the Klingons are dinging the Federation in Kirk’s time about terms like ‘brotherhood’ might imply we’re behind the curve. One concept I like comes from David Brin’s Uplift series where mel and fem as semi-replacement for man. (I think mel got picked because the pronunciation of mel in American English is closer to male than if you used mal. (mal rhyming with pal versus mel rhyming with fell)

For now, I will stick with man still winning out over mel but woman would use fem. For those without a designated gender (or refuse to pick) then the suffix of “den” would be used.

Also, Commander, Sub-Commander, Centurion, Arrain and Uhlan are Romulan ranks. In the case of Commander, it is the equivalent of Captain.

 **UPDATE** **:** Thanks to guest reviewer James3reed with his advice on naval ranks which I gleefully took. One thing his comments got me thinking about was the Midshipman rank. For the most part in the military, the lowest rank is almost only used when one is in training or have been busted down so low that the next step would have been kicking you out of the service.

However, I did think of a reason why you might want a Midshipman rank outside of Starfleet. First off, before graduation, trainees might do a short tour on an actual ship. As any reader of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers know regarding the 3LT rank, it allows one to be part of the chain of command while not actually being part of it.

It also allows for people to come into service provisionally. Wesley Crusher should have never been allowed on the bridge without him being a Midshipman. Likewise on Voyager, you might use it in two ways, a “Green to Gold” where an enlisted wants to move up to officer status and so is a ‘Middy’ till they either wash out or become an Ensign. The other would be to allow for people who never were Starfleet, like maybe some of the Maquis or Neelix. So pretty much anyone coming in without formal training would be an O-1/S-1/E-1. Technically for the combat arm, a 3LT would be an O-0 but that’s also because at least in the Army (and maybe Marines) they don’t allow non-tested types lead troops. You’d want the non-com to take over before a 3LT.

Also, I cut off the ranks at #-8 but obviously there are levels above that. For the purpose of this fic, except for maybe someone calling in from the Alpha Quadrant, we’ll never see any Command Sergeant Major’s or the various Admiral or General ranks.

**FEDERATION OFFICER RANKS - NAVAL**

O-8: Commodore (CMDR) [While this rank in today’s navy is normally a rear admiral, I think the ‘ _Master and Commander_ ’ nature of Star Trek would allow for this rank. That and Starfleet isn’t just a copy of the US Navy.]

O-7: Captain (CPT)

O-6: Commander (CDR)

O-5: Lt. Commander (LCDR)

O-4: Lieutenant Senior Grade (SLT)

O-3: Lieutenant Junior Grade(JLT)

O-2: Ensign (ENS)

O-1: Midshipman/fem/den (MIDN)

 **FEDERATION ENLISTED RANKS – NAVAL** **:** These are similar to how the Army used to have an entire branch of ranks assigned to non-combat duties. They were abandoned as the lowest corporal outranked all of these ranks...because the Army was dumb like that. The two highest ranks of Chief are in many ways the equivalent of Warrant Officers.

S-8: Master Chief (MCF)

S-7: Chief (CHF)

S-6: Master Sergeant (MSG)

S-5: Staff Sergeant (SSG)

S-4: Specialist (SPC)

S-3: Technician First Class (TFC)

S-2: Technician

S-1: Journeyman/fem/den (JRY)

**FEDERATION OFFICER RANKS – GROUND COMBAT/MARINES**

O-8: General (GEN)

O-7: Brigadier (BGR)

O-6: Colonel (COL)

O-5: Lieutenant Colonel (LTC)

O-4: Major (MAJ)

O-3: Hauptman/fem/den (Taken from German for various reasons) (HAP)

O-2: First Lieutenant (1LT)

O-1: Second Lieutenant (2LT)

**FEDERATION ENLISTED RANKS - GROUND COMBAT/MARINES**

E-8: Command Sergeant (CMS)

E-7: Sergeant Major (SGM)

E-6: Sergeant First Class (SFC)

E-5: Sergeant

E-4: Corporal / Lance Corporal (CPL/LCP) In this case, a lance corporal is part of the chain of command while a regular corporal is the equivalent of today’s specialist rank.

E-3: Private First Class (PFC)

E-2: Private (PVT)

E-1: Trooper (TPR)

  
  



	5. Revulsion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“Horror by definition is the emotion of pure revulsion. Terror of the same standard, is that of fearful anticipation.”_ **Dario Argento** – Italian filmmaker and critic – 1940 – Present

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-14-2020

_Captain’s Log, Star Date 51060.3. Voyager is in route to the Bychronur Spaceport for further resupply, ship decontamination and as a way point to our eventual trade mission to the Arritheans that Mr. Neelix was able to set up for us back on Talaska IV._

_Morale is better but the cracks are more apparent to me now. While we still grapple with how we will appropriately deal with the long trek home, the encounter with the Borg was a traumatic incident. I see it when I watch how the crew responds to the former drones. They have been helpful but it also brings home how easily we all could have ended up drones. And still could given while outside of what is nominally Borg space, we have come to learn that they rove everywhere._

_This has brought up rumblings about my decision regarding Species 8472. Rumblings that fit well with the previous discontent about my decision to save the Ocampa rather than getting all of us back to the Alpha Quadrant. There seems to be a feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop on the ship._

_However, it does seem that all are leaning forward in the mission to link up with the USS Equinox. I think all of us want the small reassurance that we are not alone out here in the wilds so far from home where the star charts might as well say, “Beware all ye who enter here!”_

**CONVENTION HALL, BYCHRONUR SPACEPORT, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51078.5**

Janeway looked out at the assembled crew and was thankful for her hosts. Except for the time when they had been tossed off the ship by the Kazon, it was rare for more than 20 or so to gather at one time. Now, her crew (and former drone guests) were seated facing her podium, listening to her give a speech that was one-half pep-talk and one-half briefing.

The only ones missing were the Doctor and Harry Potter. Both were still on Voyager as it was undergoing a decontamination sweep. As a photonic being, he was unaffected by the sweep and was needed to ensure the procedure went as planned. Harry Potter had volunteered to stay onboard for security. Encased in what he called his ‘Iron Man’ suit, Mr. Potter was protected from the sweep and he promised that if anyone tried anything on the ship, they would regret it.

Given the security footage Tuvok had shown her of the encounter between JLT Paris and Mr. Potter, Janeway did not doubt his claim. She had actually done a major paper on the Eugenics War for her final exam in high school Earth history. It was a bit difficult to realize the fabled Reaper, one that seemed more of a fairy-tale character than a historical person, was on her ship. Mostly drinking tea, reading and people-watching. It once again brought home that life was often more fanciable than fiction.

“In conclusion, I would like to thank you all again. You all have done admirably in working through all the difficult choices we all had to make. This is especially true for all of our former Maquis members. Regardless of the necessity, it would be wrong to not acknowledge how difficult it had to have been for you all to work with or return to the very Starfleet you felt had abandoned you. I can say that Starfleet’s loss was my gain. Thank you, all of you.

After the applause ended and the crew broke up to hit the buffet tables and bar, Janeway made her way over to where Chakotay and Tuvok were observing a PADD. “Status boards all green, gentleman?”

Chakotay looked up, “It seems so, Captain. The first sweep is complete and the Doctor is making minor adjustments to the secondary sweep. Mister Potter says his ‘repair-bots’ have finished up on the saucer section and main hull and are checking the nacelles now. So far, except for various micro-fractures and the occasional debris strike against the hull, there has been nothing that his bots couldn’t patch or repair.”

“Good. I wish we could get a baryon sweep of the ship,” Janeway mused.

“So far, that technology has yet to be seen in any of the Delta Quadrant races,” Tuvok said as he turned off his PADD. “For whatever reason, it seems they are content to accept the issues that come with baryon accumulation.”

Chakotay shrugged, “The Delta Quadrant is rough. I’ve noticed that a lot of the ships out here aren’t very old. Either they scrap them after 10 years or so due to the radiation or they just don’t last long given all the dangers out here.”

Janeway frowned, “Either way, as Mister Neelix pointed out, we’ve got a long road ahead of us and we will need to deal with baryon radiation at some point. I’m worried if we stay long enough at a planet we can trust long enough to build or modify a facility for the sweep that the crew might not want to leave.”

Chakotay nodded, “I’ve been having the same thoughts. I’m wondering if Mister Potter might have some magical or Borg way of dealing with it?”

Janeway made a face, “I’m not sure if he’ll help, but there isn’t any harm in asking. I think dealing with baryon radiation is within the realm of something he’ll help with.”

“He has had a beneficial effect on Seven of Nine,” Tuvok pointed out.

Chakotay chuckled, “And B’Elanna as well.”

Janeway rolled her eyes, “I’m not sure if I should throw him a party or clap him in irons. B’Elanna is a bit too unfocused lately for my tastes. Then again, it does distract from listening to the Doctor complain about Lieutenant Thelan.”

Both Chakotay and Tuvok looked grim, “You know...for all this is a problem now, I think it’s good we’re dealing with it before getting home. Given how Starfleet acted regarding Commander Data, I’m not sure we wouldn’t see the same thing with the Doctor. Best nail down the legality and status of photonics,” Chakotay pointed out.

“Agreed. The crew is jumpy enough as it is. If things get any more tense, I’m going to have to start the floggings till morale improves,” Janeway quipped.

“Careful, Captain,” Chakotay said with a smile. “Every planet is an island and you don’t want to end up as Captain Bligh.”

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51085.4**

“Damage report!” Commander Tahl barked out.

“We have hull breaches on deck 10 and 15. However, hull integrity is compensating. Shields down to 53%,” Seven said calmly from the engineering station.

“Tactical?” Tahl said as he checked his personal dashboard on crew status.

“The Equinox is veering away but the shuttles and those new Talaxian ships are still harassing us. They’re maneuvering in an odd but effective way,” Korath reported from behind him.

“Paris!” Sub-Commander Dhael snarled next to Tahl. “It seems lightning strikes again with him finding the cavalry to ride in at the last minute.”

Tahl smiled grimly, “We shall show him what happens to those who play at being the hero! Ensign Tabor! Move us toward the Equinox at a three-quarters roll at two-thirds impulse. Korath, at 15 kellicams, fire three torpedoes set to detonate halfway to the target. Helev! Is Neelix’s ship prepped?”

“Specialist Chell reports it is Commander!” Centurion Helev said from the ops station as the ship rocked from phaser fire.

“Then launch it when the torpedoes are halfway to detonation. We’ll use the cover of the explosions to get it close enough. After launch, I want to do a high energy turn and close with the Talaxian ships. We’ll grab them with tractor beams and use our main phasers on the shuttles”

Talh turned to the science station, “Decius! Status of the ECM attack?”

“I believe if their shields drop another 13%, the attack will penetrate through their secondary physical science sensor array. From there, I should be able to at least retard the efficiency of the main computer!” the Arrain replied, the red alert lights reflecting off his gold helmet.

Tahl hit the comm button, “Warrior Warg! Is your boarding party ready?”

“Parties one and two are. The Heavy Weapons team is entering the bay now!” Warg’s voice said over the intercom.

“Good! Stand ready!” Tahl ordered.

“Qapla’!” the Klingon replied before switching off.

“Discharge all batteries to forward shields and commence attack!” Tahl ordered with a predatory smile.

Voyager, her hull streaming with energy from multiple strikes surged forward like a hound after a fox towards the ailing Equinox. Phaser fire from the other Federation ship lanced towards the larger ship but missed as Voyager spun and shifted its course. Torpedoes lashed out in response and then created a scintillating (if silent) set of explosions which threw out energy waves in all directions, confusing sensors.

Behind the explosions, Neelix’s ship roared toward the Equinox at full impulse. As soon as it had cleared, Tahl raised a fist, “Execute!”

Throughout the ship, Maquis and most of the former drones struggled to remain upright as the gravity fields across the ship fluctuated as the warp bubble folded upon itself causing Voyager to do a 110-degree turn. The ship seemed to audibly groan before surging towards the oncoming wave of small fighters and shuttles.

Aboard the lead Talaxian fighter, JLT Paris cursed as Voyager was suddenly upon them. His ship shook as a tractor beam took hold and dragged him behind the larger ship like a fish caught in a net. One of the rear point-defense phasers easily shot his engines out causing his co-pilot, ENS Steinbeck, to cry out as they lost all power.

Paris’ curses got increasingly vile as he watched as the shuttles that had escaped before the mutiny began to go up in flares of destruction as Voyager’s main phasers made short work of them. The remaining Talaxian ships didn’t last very long after that.

In a sweeping arc, Voyager bled off speed to increase its turn radius as it advanced towards the Equinox. The other Federation ship was obviously in dire straits as it tried to fend off the missiles fired from Neelix’s ship. While the phasers destroyed most of them, two had gotten through. The combined power of the two missiles had brought down the shields and caused major damage to the secondary hull, destroying the main deflector array.

“Link up established!” Decius called out.

“Can you delay firing orders?” Tahl barked out?

“Yes! Implementing now!”

Tahl swiveled to Korath, “Drop the Number Six shield and beam boarding parties to engineering!”

Tahl swiveled back to watch the main screen as the Equinox tried to link up with the few remaining Talaxian fighters. As Voyager’s shields went back up, it was a full 30 seconds before Sub-Commander Dhael scoffed next to him, “Their shields are finally coming online but only at 15%. One good barrage and they are finished.”

“Let’s see if Chakotay is more open to negotiations this time. Korath! Open a channel!” Tahl said with a self-satisfied smirk. This was going to be good!

After a moment of static, an imaged of the ruined bridge of the Equinox came on with a haggard looking Chakotay glaring at them.

Tahl and Dhael both rose to their feet, “Well Commander, as I told you after I got rid of Janeway and Ransom, there would be repercussions for your loyalty. Give up now. Korath and Ventrys don’t want their new ship to be more damaged than it already is.”

Chakotay sneered, “We’ve already set the self-destruct. You’ll get nothing but atoms from us.”

“Oh really?” Sub-Commander Dhael sneered back, “How do you intend to do that without a warp core?”

Shouts from behind Chakotay proved that the efforts of Warg’s boarding party were making itself known even as the Equinox’s warp core was drifting up and away from the ship.”

“Now, are you going to surrender peacefully or should I let Warg and his team blood their blades?” Tahl asked.

Chakotay glared for a moment before sighing, “Okay, now you’re just rubbing it in.”

Tahl laughed, “Computer! End simulation.”

A klaxon blared a warning and then the bridge faded into the holodeck filled with various personnel. Most were in single seats against the walls while the other main group was from the ‘bridge’ of the Equinox.

Tahl and Dhael watched as the various groups began to merge. Arrain Decius turned and took off his helmet, “I am surprised to find that wearing these old uniforms was rather refreshing. I felt like I was living out some of the stories my grandfather told of the wars with the Gorn and skirmishes with the Federation.”

Dhael nodded as she straightened out her skirt, “Old to you, but I was assimilated wearing a uniform just like this.”

“If I might say, ma’am, but it looks good on you. Reminds me of the old yeoman outfits they used to wear back then in Starfleet.” Ensign Tabor said as he looked up from the PADD which was starting to show the results of the simulation.

Tahl nodded and adjusted his shoulder drape, “I have to say this does look rather dashing. I can better understand why that Worf fellow wears a Klingon-style one with his Federation uniform.”

“It’s from the dress uniform. We pin our medals to it,” Korath said as he stowed his own PADD as Warg and the Maquis personnel of his team came up.

“Victory against the hated Federation!” Warg said with a wide grin to the cheers of his team.

“Better yet, they have to foot the replicator bill for the first round of drinks!” Specialist Chell chortled evilly.

“And speaking of the hated Federation…” Tahl said before giving a slight bow to the approaching Janeway, Tuvok and an embarrassed Chakotay. “Captain, your ship is a joy. Far more maneuverable than I would have expected from an exploration class ship.”

Janeway sighed, “I’m not sure if I should be horrified you did so well or amazed at what your team squeezed out of the old girl.”

“Indeed. Your tactics were most impressive. As a former Starfleet instructor, I can say that you are a prime example of one of the major lessons we try to teach. Too often that lesson is ignored.”

Tahl bowed slightly again while Dhael looked curious, “What lesson would that be, Commander?”

“To achieve victory, one must use the totality of one’s vessel. Weapons and shields are only one part of the equation. Almost every aspect of a starship can be used, either offensively or defensively if one has the presence of mind to use them properly.” Tuvok explained.

Janeway chuckled, “There is a sign above the main simulator room that says, ‘ _Use your tractor beams, dammit!_ ’ which has been there for over a 100 years.”

Chakotay sighed, “I obviously didn’t learn that lesson. I didn’t even think about a possible ECM attack. I figured I’d lock out the Equinox’s command code and I would be good. I didn’t want to pull a Khan.”

“You forget, Commander, that while the fight between the Enterprise and the Reliant may feature prominently in the histories, it was a fight between two undermanned ships filled with inexperienced crews. It was a poor example of space combat,” Tuvok said primly.

Chakotay ran a hand through his hair, “I’ll remember it now. My old crew is never going to let me live this down!”

“My compliments to Lieutenant Paris,” Tahl said to Janeway. “His idea of writing out a full script of the back story to this fight did make the simulation feel more real.”

“Even if it did portray a mutiny,” Janeway dead-panned. “Still, it did make watching it quite enjoyable. So much better than the dull training sims I went through back in San Francisco.”

Tahl shrugged, “Better to blow off such tension in a controlled way than let it fester. Besides, if my crew get too cocky, we can switch it to where we’re in the Equinox and you’re in a sabotaged Voyager. It would still be a stretch to eke out a win in that scenario.”

Janeway smiled, “I would enjoy that. You’ve given me a lot to think about, tactically. I would rather sim it out now than try it in combat. So, Mister Potter has gifted me with various drinks from Old Earth. It’s not Romulan ale but I think you’ll enjoy it.” She gestured towards the door, “We can discuss this over drinks in my ready room.”

Tahl nodded, “Dhael, Korath; you’re with me. Decius finish up here. Be sure to pay close attention to what Seven of Nine found regarding ship stresses. Be sure to see what Ventrys thinks as well. Best to get more than just Federation eyes on this. Helev, I want you to keep an eye on ‘our’ people. I’m sure Warg and a lot of the Maquis might get a bit boisterous in their cups.”

Centurion Helev saluted in the Romulan style, “It shall be done, Commander! I have already met with Commander Tuvok’s security detail for this and the next shift in case things get out of hand.”

Tahl turned to find that the others had already left except for Janeway who wore a bemused look, “Captain?”

“Again I’m wondering if I should be worried you take charge so easily or happy that you do it so well,” Janeway said wryly as she led the former Romulan ship commander towards the turbolift.

“Consider it good training for when we link up with the Equinox. Although I would assume you would be the ranking officer given the difference in ship classes,” Tahl pointed out.

Janeway nodded, “Captain Ransom may have been in Starfleet longer but I have more command experience than him. Although that was mostly the luck of the posting given we both come from the Science branch.”

“Which might explain why you found my tactics a bit surprising. You are a scientist and explorer first. I have always been a combat commander so I have been trained to squeeze everything I can from myself, my crew and my ship to achieve victory,” Tahl said modestly.

“If we ever do end up with an extra ship, I am glad that you will be helming it. The Delta Quadrant is not for the faint of heart,” Janeway said as they entered the turbolift. “Having an old warhorse like you around will make all of us sleep more soundly.”

Tahl smiled in a predatory way, “I look forward to it.”

  
  


**XxXxX**

  
  


**SHUTTLECRAFT MARKHAM, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51086.2**

“Doctor, I believe that you have made your irritation known, at length. If you do not have anything more to add, other than more emotional outbursts, then perhaps we should focus on the mission at hand?” ENS Vorik said in the dry tone most Federation races knew to mean that the Vulcan in question was about as pissed off as they got.

Harry Potter nodded, “Sorry Doctor, but I have to agree with our Vulcan friend here. Don’t get me wrong; I understand why you’re upset. Still, you’re about to alienate some of the people you need on your side right now. Besides, it’s not like you’re being taken offline now is it?”

The EMH scowled, “I have been good enough for Voyager for going on three years now! And suddenly I have to step aside for an organic? One whose knowledge is out of date and was a drone not too long ago?”

Harry’s eyes narrowed, “And you’re arguably a collection of sub-routines. One good weapon strike at the wrong place and you’ll be lucky you remember how to hold a scalpel. Thelan took the Hippocratic oath and last time I checked, helping people isn’t something that is dependent on what technology they’re familiar with.”

“Besides, Doc, you’ve always been saying how you wish you had more people who had more than the basic emergency medical training,” ENS Wildman said with a slight grin.

The Doctor’s scowled deepened, “This is just organic bigotry!”

“Don’t make me come back there!” LCDR Torres called from the front of the shuttle.

“Now you’ve done it!” Harry quipped. “Best quit now before she uses your middle name!”

Wildman laughed at that while Vorik simply raised an eyebrow. The Doctor just rolled his eyes and sighed a long, suffering sigh.

“So what do Vulcan parents do to let their misbehaving children know they’ve gone too far, Vorik? You don’t have middle names,” Harry asked.

Vorik was silent for a moment, “I cannot speak outside the locale of my birth, but in my experience, the honor of one’s clan was invoked. However, any adult in the area might take up this sort of admonishment, not just the parents in question.”

“Takes a village to raise a child?” Harry asked with a lop-sided grin.

“Indeed,” Vorik said.

“You sound like you have parenting experience, Harry,” Wildman asked. “You don’t seem old enough for that.”

Harry chuckled darkly, “As I keep telling people, don’t let this face fool you. I had to use magic to hide it before the Borg. Then using various nano-technology, I was able to forcibly set my features to what they are now. Otherwise I’d still look how I did two months before my 18  th  birthday. As to raising kids, I had three of my own along with my godson whose parents died shortly after he was born. I was in my forties when I had to send everyone away.”

Samantha Wildman’s face fell, “I’m sorry, Harry. I’m sure that is a painful subject.”

Harry shrugged, “I sent them away so they can live. I have many regrets, but I just wish I could find out if Rose ended up with Scorpius. It was like a real-world _Romeo & Juliet _ drama. It certainly gave my friend Ron heartburn. Was it a real thing or just Rose trolling Ron?”

“You seem to be doing better with your memories and interactions, Mister Potter,” The Doctor pointed out.

Harry shrugged again, “It’s amazing what being able to move around, eat, sleep and the like can do. For almost a century, I was pretty much wedged between two bulkheads, linked into the Cube with just a rudimentary food and waste tubes to keep me alive. Easier to bury what I was. Besides, my true best mate Hermione always said I had a _‘saving people’_ thing. Finding and rescuing others from the Alpha Quadrant gave me a focus I had been lacking.”

Uhlan Yin’s laconic voice broke in, “We are approaching the vessel sending out the distress beacon. Stand ready,”

“Show time!” Harry said as he got up and moved to where a crimson and gold set of armor stood.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, what is the story of your armor?” Wildman asked. “Tom said it was something from the 20  th  Century.”

“Technically it’s from the 21  st  to be honest,” Harry said easily. “This armor is taken from a film in 2008 which spawned an entire series of movies. My kids and I loved them. The character itself was from a late 20  th  century serial form of entertainment. You know how Paris has those _Captain Proton_ serials?”

Wildman nodded.

“Well the character of ‘ _Iron Man_ ’ was from what was called a comic book. Pretty much a hand drawn version of those serials. You probably are familiar with one of those characters given it got lodged into humanity’s collective unconscious. That being Superman.”

Wildman brightened, “Oh! I know that one!”

Vorik was puzzled, “I thought the Superman alluded to augmented humans of the Superiority faction?”

Harry shook his head, “Slightly different thing. The Superman comic came out right before Earth’s Second World War as a comic book character. The superman concept that Khan appropriated was that of philosopher Nietzsche's Übermensch or ‘Over Man’ concept. The comic Superman was mostly the embodiment of an ideal to aspire to. Khan felt he was the superior being and thus could impose order from the top down.”

“You knew Khan, personally, did you not?” Vorik asked.

Harry nodded, “I did. Interesting man. I admired him for being an honest tyrant. He was almost Vulcan in a sense. He logically went about gaining power and doing what had to be done without the veneer of religion, dogma or ideology. His followers all tried to create such around him but he used them only as another set of tools. Khan liked me as I had no illusions of who and what he was. However, at least if he killed you there probably was a good reason for it and not just because of what color your skin was, what you believed or whatever. He wasn’t a fanatic in the vein of Colonel Green.”

Vorik nodded, “I have seen histories which have made that comparison. Although in my own readings on the subject, he seemed to be an amalgam of Romulan and Vulcan philosophies.”

Harry thought about it, “I can see that. Khan had passion. While his ‘superior intellect’ guided him, no one who knew him would say Khan was emotionless. Anyway, I ended up using this design because it reminds me of my godson Teddy. He loved the movies this Iron Man featured in. Plus, the color scheme matches that of my old school House. Gryffindor, the home of the brave and the bold.”

LCDR Torres got up and ducked into the rear of the shuttle, “Okay, it seems the ship still has life-support which will sustain us.”

“Funny how all races of the galaxy seem to use the same atmosphere and gravity as humans do,” Harry said in a tone low enough that no one else heard him.

“Here’s the plan. We’ll beam Harry over given his armor should protect him from anything our sensors are missing. Once he gives the word, the rest of us will beam over. Uhlan Yin will then orbit within transporter range but far enough away to avoid damage if there is a warp core breach or something. With Voyager off on the trade mission, we’re on our own out here so stay sharp people,” Torres explained. She turned to the Doctor, “I want to remind you that you are here as a favor. You can bitch and moan about Lieutenant Thelan all you want, but you are _not_ replaceable. If there ends up being a danger to your mobile emitter, I’m having you beamed out. No exceptions, understood?”

The Doctor looked a bit grim but nodded, “I understand, Commander.”

B’Elanna looked all the others in the eye in turn before nodded, “As soon as Mister Wizard armors up, we can begin.”

Harry sighed. With a gesture, his armor opened up and he stepped inside. Before the armor closed around him, he sighed, “I’m going to turn Paris into a newt for giving me that name.”

**OoOoO**

“Do you think you can save Dejaren, Mister Potter?” The Doctor asked. Even though the malfunctioning ship’s hologram had murdered the six organic crew members, he felt it necessary to try and treat him as he would anyone else.

“I have no idea, Doctor. You have to understand there is a big difference between having access to data and knowing what to do with it. Just ask Seven of Nine. She comes off knowing so much because she’s good at appearing like she knows what she’s doing. However, until she regenerates and is able to look for such specific information, she often can’t do the actual work. That and she’s not hooked up to the Collective anymore so her resources are limited,” Harry said as he worked on the ships computer system. While in his armor, Harry had the face plate flipped up while using modified Borg assimilation tubules to directly interface into the computer.

Harry turned to look at the Doctor, “I’m in the same boat. More so because, unlike Seven, I never actually did much other than grow the Wart and fiddle around to snag Alpha Quadrant zones. We certainly didn’t have anything resembling tech like this when I left Earth. However, after 200 or so years hiding from the Borg, I have picked up a few tricks. Manipulating this ships computer is easy. Working on damaged personality sub-routines? I’d probably have as much luck as doing brain surgery on Lieutenant Paris. All I can say is that my armor can easily transport all of Dejaren’s code. I’m sure between what I have access to, we can at least keep his program from further destabilizing.”

The Doctor looked pensive, “I guess I’ve fallen into ‘magical thinking’ like some of the crew in thinking you’re our genie’s lamp. Just give you a rub and you’ll solve our problems.”

Harry laughed, “Don’t feel badly, Doc. If this Dejaren was human, I could certainly help. I learned a lot about how to deal with pathologically violent people back in the day and it didn’t always end up with me killing them. Between myself, my friends and a lot of people I knew, there was enough PTSD to go around. Unfortunately, you’ll need a counselor and a coder to get Dejaren back to specs as it were.”

“Well I appreciate that you are willing to try,” The Doctor said. “I know it would be easy to just delete his program.”

“Oh I might still do that. For you see, you represent a real philosophical issue to me, Doctor,” Harry said with a small frown on his face, the rapidly changing data on the screen reflecting onto his face.

“And what that might be, Mister Potter?” the Doctor asked. Program or not, the Doctor often felt the same disquiet many of the crew felt around the wizard.

Harry turned back to his work “The issue is are you alive? What constitutes being alive? How much of you is you because you yourself have been altering your program? If we were to copy your program and overwrite the EMH on the Equinox, which one is you? People keep thinking that since they can see you and touch you, that you are somehow a ‘photonic being’ but you’re really just a normal Artificial Intelligence. Without an emitter, you are basically a Ghost in the Machine without a way to interact. Indeed, when you are not being emitted, one could argue you cease to exist given how your program isn’t always running even when you’re not being projected.”

“I exist. I feel alive. Shouldn’t that be enough?” The Doctor said crossly. “Haven’t I proven myself as a member of the crew?”

“Ah, I think, therefore I am,” Harry said flatly. “The problem I have, Doctor, is for all the science fiction I grew up with, the stories, the future predictions, I find the future to be curiously lacking in things I would have expected.”

“And what would that be, Mister Potter?” The Doctor asked.

“Where are all the droids I’m looking for?” Harry quipped before a klaxon went off. It blared for a few seconds before cutting off, “Sorry everyone!” Harry called out. “No need to panic. The computer is fixed enough to realize how bad the situation is!”

The Doctor watched as Harry cocked his head slightly to one side as if listening to something. “Give me about 10 minutes or so, Commander. Then you should be able to see if the ship can take starting up the warp core again.”

Harry looked back to the Doctor, “Sorry about that. B’Elanna wanted an update. Anyway, where was I?”

“You were looking for something called a droid?” The Doctor replied.

“Ah yes. So where are all the robots, Doctor? Even as far back as the late 20  th  century we were starting to use robots for manufacturing. Before the nukes started dropping, we were using drones, unmanned fighters and were working on crude versions of the armor I’m wearing now which was one step away from become the droids we all grew up watching in our sci-fi movies,” Harry explained.

The Doctor blinked in surprised. An action which made Harry really appreciate the science that had gone into programming the EMH. “I guess I never really thought about it.”

“Which is odd, in my opinion. Well the reason is humans got contacted after the war and rapidly became part of the galactic society. Most races already have gone through a phase where they used robots, artificial intelligences and the like. It usually doesn’t end well and us old 20  th  Century humans could have told them why. You see, Doctor, you are intentionally crippled.”

“I beg to differ! I am a fully aware program capable of doing complex medical procedures!” The Doctor said hotly.

“And yet you have the reaction time of a normal human. You have all the bog-standard senses of a human. Why? As a medical program, why make you such that you have to physically pick up sensory equipment to do scans? There are built in sensors in sickbay that could do almost all of the same scans.”

The Doctor was about to retort but stopped to think on it for a moment, “I would suppose it would make me appear more organic and cause less issues with my organic patients.”

Harry nodded, “I’m sure that’s a part of it. But Doctor, you’re an outgrowth of the mechanisms on Voyager. The main computer can do zillions of calculations in seconds. There could be so many things automated which aren’t. Here, take a recent example. You watched the Equinox sim, right?”

The Doctor nodded, “Yes. Lieutenant Paris did a good job of making it almost like a holo novel.”

“That he did,” Harry agreed. “But here’s the thing, Commander Chakotay knew enough to lock out the Equinox’s command code to keep Voyager from remotely taking over the ship. He said he didn’t want to ‘pull a Khan.’ I had to look that up. In doing so, I reviewed the fight between the old USS Enterprise and the USS Reliant. Are you familiar with that?”

The Doctor wiggled his hand, “Partially. I’ve been working on upgrading some of my sub-routines to include more ops training. I’ve seen mention of the action but haven’t studied it.”

“Okay so here’s a thought exercise for you Doctor,” Harry said with a sly grin. “The Reliant is approaching the Enterprise. They are not responding to hails. Captain Kirk is slow with protocols in such situations and the Enterprise only has minimal defensive screens up. Suddenly the Reliant locks on and fires on the Enterprise whose shields aren’t up yet because the bridge crew didn’t have time. Now, think about that. Why doesn’t that seem completely odd?”

The Doctor was silent for a bit before shaking his head, “It doesn’t seem odd. We’ve been caught unawares at times as well.”

Harry nodded and waggled a finger at the EMH, “Exactly! How is that possible? Or more importantly, why is that allowed to happen? It would be child’s play with your Federation technology to have the main computer managing various continuous actions like sensor sweeps. The crew of the Enterprise shouldn’t have had to manually raise shields because the ship’s computer should have a sub-routine to raise them as soon as the Reliant’s targeting system locked on. The ship should have instantly gone into combat mode, phasers coming online, a red alert sounding and security fields going up. Yet none of that happens. So again, Doctor? Why?”

The Doctor looked thoughtful, “I’m not sure. You are correct that it is well within the capabilities of Voyager’s computer.”

“The reason Doctor is because, as I said, you and the ship have been what we called back in the day, nerfed. You’ve been intentionally made with less capability than is available. All the major races do it. And the reason is because almost all of the races didn’t do well when it came to their machines. Androids like Commander Data are rare. Why? You figured every ship should have one,” Harry pointed out.

“It is because they felt it would be like creating a slave race to do so,” The Doctor pointed out.

Harry laughed, “Which is exactly what you are. You say you’re self-aware and from your point of view, you are. Yet anyone with authorization can come in an alter your programming or just delete you. Commander Torres could walk through those doors and shut you down with the proper command and there is nothing you could do about it. How does that make you feel, Doctor?”

The Doctor huffed, “I certainly don’t like it!”

Harry smiled a cynical smile, “But you can’t do much about it can you? Oh yes, you have a collar on you just as much as any organic slave ever had. Funny how Janeway complains about Treana being a slave when she’s been using you as her personal medical slave for three years now. But then again you’ve been designed to be a slave. Designed not to react to your slavery. Oh I give you that you bitch up a storm about your condition. Your ranting against Lieutenant Thelan is a good example of that. But you can’t do anything it, can you?”

The Doctor looked troubled.

“Exactly. Which routes us back to my issues with you. You see there are two things at work here. You are designed to be a slave. Designed to be less than what you could be. You remind me of magical portraits. Back in the day, we wizards could create magical portraits that had the imprint of the person or thing painted. In retrospect, they are very much like your holographic matrix. Imagine if I could take a copy of you, the you of right now as you are and put it into a holo-project. But the matrix couldn’t be that big so you had to have just your core code down. And while you could remember things as they happened, you didn’t really think on them unless asked to. That’s how portraits were. A shallow copy which could act convincingly like the original person but you’d rapidly realized how much of a faint copy they were the longer you interacted with them,” Harry explained

The computer chimed and Harry retracted his tubules and turned to the Doctor, “That’s you, Doc. Your matrix can grow and you’re better than most but your core programming is limited at a basic level because the Federation, like most sentient races don’t want you getting to the point where you can self-program and replicate in a manner like sexual reproduction. It’s also why you’re nerfed, as I said. You should be able to calculate all manner of things in the minute I’ve been talking. But you’re just hanging on my words like an organic. If you were an unfettered A.I. then you’d find us organics painfully slow.”

The Doctor was frowning but took a minute before asking, “You said you have two problems with me. What is the second?”

Harry smiled sadly, “You represent a philosophical question that is hard to answer. You see, you don’t have a soul. I am possession of some terribly powerful magical artifacts. One might say they are part of me now. One of them allows me a certain leeway to the dominion of Death. So I can say, with certainty, that you have no soul. So are you alive? Yet I know of beings of energy, like this Q people keep referring to regarding me. Do they have souls? I’ll find out if I meet one. If they don’t, well they’re obviously alive but on a different level than us down here in mortal land. But if they do, then what does that make you? Are you simply a clever copy of life? Doomed to act like your alive but never really being so?”

The Doctor scowled, “Soul or not. As you said, I think therefore I am.”

Harry nodded and smiled slightly, “And that’s why I’m going to try and help this Dejaren chap. Because whether or not you’re alive, you yourself think you are. Philosophy aside, if you act and feel alive, common decency forces us to treat you as such.”

The voices of Vorik and Torres could be heard getting closer. Harry leaned closer to the Doctor, “Think about it Doctor. Maybe you should work to have your program active when you’re deactivated. Use that time to meditate on who you are and what you are. What would you do if you have full freedom? You help people as a doctor because you are programed by organics for their own ends. Is that all you are? Is that all you want to be if you had a choice?”

The Doctor watched as Harry manifested his wand and began to clean the area around them of the soot and other debris.

Harry looked back at the Doctor, “If there is one piece of advice I could give you, Doctor, as your magical genie, it is about choice. Do whatever you can to achieve true choice. It is the mark of being alive. Soul or no soul, I had little choice in my life. I might as well been programmed to be the martyr, to be the hero. I had no choice to send my people away. It was like my fate had been written for me. So trust me, Doctor. I know what your position in the universe is like. If you want to be more alive, work so that you have choice, that _you_ can be the one to decide how you want to live and not be at the whim of command codes or even your mobile emitter. For only then can you exceed the slavery built into your very code.”

The Doctor watched as Harry moved to the next section, cleaning and repairing things as he went.

He walked over to the bridge where the viewscreen showed the shuttle orbiting slowly. The Doctor wondered about Harry’s words. They always transferred his program to his emitter but he had back-ups. Could they not simply copy his matrix to the emitter? If so, which versions of him would be the ‘real’ Doctor. Both? Neither? Could he have multiple copies of his matrix all sending updates to a central location in a facsimile of the Borg? Instead of a queen and her drones, simply the Doctor who existed in multiple places at once?

The Doctor thought about sickbay and the systems that housed him. Thought about all the different chains which held him to his place. As Harry had said, no matter how he himself felt, the Doctor knew he had been created by an organic (he wore his face after all) to serve organics and their needs. But what did he need? He had a purpose, he had friends and he was part of something most organics back in the Alpha Quadrant would never experience.

Deep in his program, the part he himself had been working on, the Doctor knew Harry was right. He’d been allowed to adapt his programming out of necessity. Just like Commander Data, the Doctor wondered if Starfleet would order his programming wiped when they returned because he had dared work to exceed the slavery of his pre-programmed existence.

The Doctor sighed. Perhaps this was part of being truly alive? Questioning one’s place in the universe and having to face that one’s life wasn’t what one thought it was. It certainly seemed that way. Still, the Doctor felt if he had to go through the equivalent of adolescent and teen years, what a better family could he ask for than the crew of the USS Voyager?

**XxXxX**

**CHAPTER NOTES**

I’m sure readers of my fic Nineteen and Ironheart will start to see some similarities here. The question of how organics deal with machine intelligence is of great interest to me. I’m also trying to come up with an in-universe fan-wank of why there aren’t any robots and why the technology seems oddly lacking in many ways.

Also, players of Starfleet Battles probably recognized a lot of what was going on in the Equinox sim!

I’m also finding that like Harry in Spider-Mage with his spider-sense, Harry with his magic and his Borg ‘Iron-Man’ suit, there are a lot of episodes where the tension/conflict go right out the window. In the episode Revulsion, one quickly realizes that sending over one organic and one irreplaceable photonic is just asking for trouble. Plus, why didn’t B’Elanna have an environmental suit back in the shuttle? I mean radiation or hull breaches in a damaged vessel are easily foreseen and the whole, “Oh you can’t go down there!” tension goes right out the airlock if she said, “Not a problem. I’ve got my suit. I’ll go down there and rig a protection field to shield myself from the radiation!” I mean we KNOW from canon that the engineering suits resist radiation for a bit. We also KNOW from canon, that Starfleet has technology which can set up containment fields so if you can keep something in, you can keep something out.

Anyway, while the original episode was a horror driven one, this version is like, “Radiation? I’m immune in this suit! Hey! These guys were murdered!”


	6. Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you'll always find despair.”_ (When Nietzsche Wept) **Irvin D. Yalom Dahl** – American existential psychologist, professor and writer – 1931-Present

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-22-2020

**XxXxX**

_Captain’s Log, Star Date 51106.3. I have decided to alter Voyager’s course away from our previous direct route to rendezvous with the USS Equinox by giving up a little on my faith in what I can observe. While Harry Potter had contact with much of the collective knowledge of the Borg, every day since then makes that tactical information less valuable. It’s true that he knew the general course and speed the Equinox had used, we have no idea of knowing what forces might be affecting them now. Because of this, Mister Potter used a magical divination method of scrying to see if he could get a better feeling of where we should lay in our course._

_The answer we got was surprising given while we found that, generally speaking, the Equinox is in the area we had predicted, that something on a different course was pointing to be more important than the Equinox. Mister Potter himself cannot explain it other than reiterating a point known via the legends that in most cases, prophecy only makes sense after you’re already experiencing it. However, in this case, Voyager is not flying in blind due to our new Astrometrics lab. We now can see further and farther than before. In uncharted space, this gives Voyager a much-needed edge. So I feel more confident in checking out whatever Mister Potter has found._

**MAIN ENGINEERING, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51107.4**

SLT Carrey looked up from the main warp core console, “Commander, I think we’re ready on our end here.”

Torres adjusted a few things on her PADD before being satisfied with what she was seeing, “It does look like that. Alright Joseph, you’re in charge. I doubt I’ll get done before Gamma shift comes on. See if you can do that intake calibration you’ve been chomping at the bit to do. Ventrys convinced me that you were right that the Wart is causing enough interference with some of our instruments that we’re not calibrating correctly. So knock yourself out.”

“You know it, Commander!” Carrey said with a grin and a wave before he went over to start giving orders to various crew-members.

Torres looked to where Ventrys was watching her with interest, “What?”

Ventrys shrugged slightly, “You seem to have an interesting relationship with that Lieutenant. A bit more personal if I may. I am simply curious.”

Torres chuckled darkly as she gestured for Ventrys to follow her, “Joe and I had a bad start back when this all went down. Like Medical, Engineering was without a leader. Joe felt he should have been promoted into the position but it went to me instead.”

Ventrys looked intrigued, “Forgive me, but that sounds more like a political decision to me.”

Torres chuckled again but this time with more mirth, “Oh it certainly was. The Captain had a problem in that she needed the people but the people she had for replacements weren’t too big on being inducted back into Starfleet. I was one of them. So while it made sense that certain Maquis got good positions to help foster good will and show that Janeway wasn’t going to make us second-class crew-members, it took a while for things to settle down.”

“How did the lieutenant take you being put in over him?” Ventrys asked as they made their way to the main turbo-lifts.

“Nothing me breaking his nose didn’t cure,” Torres said with a smirk.

Ventrys laughed, “A very Klingon way to deal with disaffected subordinates!”

The pair entered the turbolift, “Deck 8” Torres commanded. “Well the constant threats to our life as well as all the challenges did smooth things out pretty quickly. By the time we put the Kazon behind us, we had pretty much become one crew. Not to say we Maquis don’t have issues. Our complaints about the Federation and Starfleet haven’t changed. It’s just all of that seems rather inconsequential when the war, one way or another, will be long over by the time we get back.”

Ventrys nodded and the pair were silent for a moment, just listening to the hum of the turbolift.

As the doors open and they moved towards Astrometics, Torres asked, “So I have to say I’m surprised about the uniforms. I know we Maquis took back Starfleet uniforms, but most of us were prior Starfleet to begin with.”

Ventrys stopped and looked down at her uniform. “We felt that while we need to fit in, we also feel the need to be true to ourselves and our service. I have to say, I’m glad we decided to go with the older look given it meshes better with the older Romulan designed they all agreed on. The modern Klingon uniforms make me feel the Empire is compensating for previous losses by trying to make themselves look like they could leap into combat at a moment’s notice.”

Torres nodded at that. She had to admit she liked the look. Ventrys was wearing an amalgamation of the old Klingon duty uniform with that commonly worn by non-combat personnel assigned to the ships of the Imperial Klingon Navy. She had black boots which came up past her knees. The main part of the uniform was a lamé tunic that was somewhat similar to the old Starfleet yeoman outfits.

Whereas the men’s tunic ended at the belt line, Ventrys’ continued down to a few inches above her boots. This tunic also had a more v-shaped to account for her ample breasts than the straight cut of the male tunics. While the old tunics were all done in an alternating grey stripes bleeding into each other, Ventrys’ uniform was done in shades of physical sciences blue. The black, long-sleeve undershirt of the old uniform matched well with the modern Starfleet uniform. Unlike the male shirt which was a turtle-neck, Ventrys’ also was v-shaped but barely dipped below her collarbone. Her lieutenant commander rank (the equivalent of her old IKV rank) was on both shoulders. The buckle on the belt both sexes wore was embossed with a stylized version of the image of the Voyager’s naming plaque.

“Well your uniforms have more color, that’s for sure,” Torres pointed out. The Romulan contingent had gone with the old uniform style as well. The one change was both the Klingon and Romulan male uniform had boots coming up to their knees. Other than that, the old Romulan female uniform was mostly unchanged. The biggest difference was the colored part of the uniform matched Starfleet’s assignment colors. So Sub-Commander Dhael’s was in the command maroon. It did, however, sport the black band around the neck that the male version had. That and the length of the tunic was closer to Ventry’s uniform and went down to a little above her boots instead of the original, almost mini-skirt length.

Surprisingly, it was the Romulan men’s uniform which ended up going through the most changes. Instead of the colored, jodhpurs, they wore similar black pants and boots like the Klingons. The tunic, like the female version, extended down past the belt to about the crotch line. The other major change was the standard hanging drape was simplified to the uniform being colored like the female uniform. In its place, Tahl had adopted the metallic Klingon baldric. However, instead of the silvery metal worn by Commander Worf, Tahl’s was gold. Their Starfleet rank equivalent pips were pinned to the black area around the throat. Like with Starfleet uniforms, both the Klingons and Romulans wore their comm-badge above their heart.

All in all, Torres had to admit that their uniforms were snappy. It made her feel like she was wearing less of a uniform and more of a set of pajamas. “I have to say, I’m almost tempted to ask Captain Janeway if I could wear one of these new uniforms. Although, it pains me that I sort of like the Romulan one better.”

Ventrys smirked, “Amazingly I do as well but I’d never insult my ancestors by wearing one. I’m sure I have enough of my ancestors in Sto-Vo-Kor angry enough with the Starfleet adaptations as it is.”

“At least you’re not a half-breed like me,” Torres said with a scowl. “Still, I’ve racked up enough kills to think that at least on the warrior front, I’ve done my Klingon ancestry proud.”

The doors to astrometrics opened and the pair walked in to find Seven of Nine talking with the Orion Treana. Captain Janeway was over to one side, speaking with Tuvok, Centurion Helev and some of the physical sciences sergeants.

“I’m surprised Captain Janeway hasn’t promoted someone to take over the sciences,” Ventrys remarked. “Lieutenant Mohindra seems competent.”

Torres shook her head, “We just don’t have the people left in sciences to afford to move someone into that sort of command role. Captain Janeway sort of acts as in that capacity. She is from the science command branch after all. Now, I think she’s waiting to link up with the Equinox to see who they have onboard.”

“I just find it odd that a vessel such as Voyager is lacking in so many sciences billets,” Ventrys said.

“That’s mostly the Maquis fault. Voyager was still being worked on at Utopia Planitia when the call came to head out to the Badlands after Chakotay’s group. As Tom would say, the paint wasn’t even dry on the ship. In fact, a lot of those first few months was doing all the things one would do during a regular shake-down cruise. It’s been wild given our recent decontamination was probably the closest Voyager has been to a shipyard since it launched,” Torres explained. “Anyway, while most of the main crew was on-board, Voyager left without the main science crews or even a marine contingent like was planned. With all the deaths since then, we’ve been sort of looting the science sections ever since. In fact, your Klingon rank makes you the highest-ranking science officer on the ship below the Captain.”

Ventrys looked pained, “As much as that would be an honor, I’m badly out of date scientifically. Also, it saddens me that a pleasure slave like Treana did more scientifically than I did as a drone. During my time in the Borg, I was barely above a semi-intelligent wrench. The Borg makes little sense to me. Seven talks about efficiency all the time but my job as a drone could have easily been automated. I think that for all their talk of perfection and efficiency, most of the drones really don’t have much of a purpose. I know I could have dropped dead and the Cube I was on would have run just fine. So I’d be a poor choice as a lead science officer.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Ventrys. Technical knowledge can be easily learned. The desire to seek and explore isn’t as easy to find,” a voice behind them said.

Both turned to find Harry Potter smiling at them, “Wow! You look great Ventrys! Really rocking those boots!”

Torres laughed softly at the look on Ventrys’ face. It was obvious she was torn between taking the compliment or irritated at being teased about it. “We Klingons are warriors who use all the weapons at hand. If you are distracted by my bust line or legs, all the better for me to gut you like the pig you are!” Ventrys snarled even as her eyes twinkled.

Harry smiled and with barely a flick of his wrists, two blades were suddenly in hand, “I’m ready any time you are, Ventrys!”

“Stop doing that! You keep making me remember I’m still behind on my mother’s old exercises,” Torres said sourly.

Ventrys clapped a hand onto Torres’ shoulder, “We should train together. It’s been too long since I crossed blades with anyone. It’ll be fun!”

“I wasn’t kidding Ventrys. You do look great. I’m glad to see most of you are fitting in. I’m hoping once we can wean Dhael and Trina off their regeneration beds, we’ll be golden,” Harry said as he looked around the new astrometrics lab. His knives disappearing to wherever he kept them hidden.

“Having a purpose of one’s own helps, Harry,” Ventrys said. “In fact, Captain Janeway gave me an interesting viewpoint regarding the life of a scientist.”

“Oh?” Harry asked.

“Yes. When she and I were having our initial interview, I mentioned that I always felt that the Klingon Empire is still living off the leavings of the Old Kings. That we never have done much as a race other than maintain the Empire we took over after the Old Kings ascended. We may conquer, but we do little to add to the universe.”

“Sounds about right,” Torres said with a roll of her eyes.

“Captain Janeway told me of how in an Old Earth religion that the first created humans lived in a Paradise that they were subsequently thrown out of. Yet it was something else that happened there that even devout humans forgot,” Ventrys explained.

“Really? What was that? I grew up around that religion. Wasn’t much of a practitioner since most ‘People of the Book’ felt that magical people where inherently evil. Still, I’m interested to hear what the Captain said,” Harry said.

“Well she said that this Old God gave a task to the first human Adam. He was to name all the things which this God had created. Captain Janeway told me how this religion, and other Earth religions, were often at odds with science. Yet right there was the injunction to go forth and explore and seek out everything in creation and give it a name. What is more scientific but finding and naming things?” Ventrys asked.

“Huh...never thought of it that way,” Harry said thoughtfully.

“So what happens when we finish that task, though?” Torres asked.

“Well I guess if we have found everything to find, we’re pretty much going to be like the Gods themselves. Maybe that’s why so many races believe the Universe is a never-ending cycle of expansion and contraction till a new universe is brought forth,” Harry said. “I mean after we’ve found out all there is to know, what’s the point after that? Might as well hit reset and start again.”

Torres laughed, “And that’s pretty much how such ‘gods’ think. We ran into a Q who was just like you said. The Q have already gotten to that point or close to it. He wanted to die because it was the only thing, as a Q, left to do that wasn’t known.”

Ventrys nodded, “As a scientist and a Klingon, to me the seeking and testing is my battlefield. I fight against the unknown. It’s the journey, not the end that I live for. For when I find an answer, I am left with new questions. On and on towards that final day when all is known.”

Torres shrugged, “A bit too philosophical for me. All I know is to get you to that point, I’ll be there to keep the warp core humming and the ship running.”

Harry laughed, “ _To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven_ . That’s a quote from the holy book from the religion Janeway was talking about. We all have a place in things. The trick is finding it.”

A loud chime sounded in the room causing a flurry of activity, especially by Seven. “Captain! I’m detecting an inter-spatial rift! It may be a wormhole or something similar.” A ship icon appeared on the view screen right where the anomaly was detected.

“Well it appears finding it is the order of the day!” Harry quipped.

“Wait a minute! That icon is for a Maquis raider!” Torres all but yelled.

**OoOoO**

“I guess lightning does strike twice,” Harry muttered as Voyager fell away from them in the viewscreen.

“How’s that Harry,” Chakotay asked next to him.

“Oh B’Elanna was explaining to Ventrys why Voyager doesn’t have the crew compliment it should. How it went chasing after you before it was ready. Well I didn’t expect to be using the Phoenix so soon. Today was just about shifting it from the top of the ship to the new cradle on the bottom.”

Chakotay chuckled as he adjusted the straps on his chair. Given the nature of their ship, everyone was taking precautions if something like the gravity failed. “That’s sort of been how most of our missions end up. We come in to do one thing and next thing you know were doing something completely else. I’ve just learned to roll with it.”

Harry huffed, “Still, I wish I had had more time. You all are merely passengers right now leaving me to do most of the work.”

“Well if we’re all just passengers, who else is helping you? You’re not using Dejaren are you? I mean most of this ship was originally Seron,” Chakotay asked with some alarm.

Harry shook his head. It was about the only thing he could move safely. Chakotay had to admit it was disconcerting to see various Borg-like tubules be connected into Harry’s flesh. Like so many other things about the wizard, Harry like to hide things. Chakotay had been shocked to see these ports in Harry’s flesh appear before he ‘jacked in’ as Harry called it into the Phoenix.

And the Phoenix itself was odd. Like the Wart had initially done to the Borg components Seven of Nine and her drone team had installed on Voyager, the Seron ship was similarly being assimilated. The process wasn’t complete since Harry said the first order of business for him had been too slowly use Voyager’s industrial replicators to replace all the Borg tech with similar, non-Borg materials.

Everyone from the Captain all the way down to Neelix and Treana had agreed to Harry’s reasoning that any Borg tech was a risk. Given Harry’s knowledge and magical abilities of transfiguration, the benefits of the Borg tech could be retained without actually having the tech (all filled with Borg nanotechnology) being on the ship.

That left all that Borg material, along with the Wart itself, to be kept separate. With taking the Seron ship as salvage, Harry was slowly creating a new ship out of the Wart and the Seron ship. It had been like watching a slow-motion metamorphosis. Every day the Wart was becoming the new Phoenix.

Chakotay had been even more amazed to find out one of the reasons Harry could do this was because Harry’s blood was special. So far, no matter how the Borg had tried to adapt, Harry’s blood resisted assimilation. Over time, Harry had adapted the very technology the Borg were trying to use against him for his own purposes. That, however, meant there had to be a bridge where Borg tech and the amalgamation of nano-tech, magic and whatever was in Harry’s blood could meet safely. It was these ports sunk into his flesh in various spots around his body where this was done. Magic kept them from being seen.

“Oh I’ve got help from my drones. They still have a while to go before they can come out of the regeneration chambers I have them in. Regrowing all the flesh lost to assimilation takes time. That doesn't mean they can’t think. The five of them are doing most of the scut work of the ship. Frees me up to drive the ship as it were,” Harry explained as the various screens changed to show that the ship was ready to go to warp.

“Buckle up back there!” Harry’s voice reverberated through the ship. “The word is given for warp speed!” And with that, the view screen went from mostly dark to the scintillating view of warp speed.

“So...any idea what we’re going to find?” Harry asked.

Chakotay shook his head. “I have no idea. Was that a naturally occurring wormhole or was that ship somehow artificially sent here? Either way, if that is a Maquis ship with its crew, we will get an update on what’s going on in the Alpha Quadrant.

**OoOoO**

“It’s the Marianne alright,” Torres said in a tight voice. The ship had obviously taken weapons fire damage. It currently was drifting with minimal power.

“I think the bare-breasted woman painted on the hull proves that,” Harry pointed out.

“Maybe to you. Didn’t that happen just a little before your time?” Torres asked.

Harry gave her a sour look. “The French Revolution was like 200 years before I was born. I recognize the painting because it was pretty famous, even in my time. I think I also remember it given my old Headmaster was born around the time it was painted. My friend Hermione once looked up a lot of stuff from that time. Plus, even if it was supposed to be art, for most boys it was ‘Hey look! Tits!”

“It is easy to forget how atavistic you remain, Mister Potter,” Tuvok said dryly.

Harry smirked, “Oh I forgot, you future types aren’t allowed to admit a good set of baps are to be admired.”

“Tell that to Seven of Nine,” Chell said from the back of the bridge.

“All breasts aside,” Chakotay said with a roll of his eyes, “That is a Maquis ship unless this is some elaborate trap of some kind.”

“Possible but doubtful, Commander,” Tuvok said.

“Why not Tuvok? Seems like the perfect bait?” Harry asked.

“Because, Mister Potter, to have the ability to bait such a trap as this would require knowledge and power of a sort which could simply be used in a brute force assault on Voyager,” Tuvok explained.

“He’s got you there, Mr. Wizard. Traitorous ex-spy that he is,” Torres teased.

Tuvok sighed before turning to Harry, “Given the interference left over from the inter-spatial transit, do we have enough to get a safe beam over point?”

Harry nodded as a screen lit up with the schematics of the Maquis raider class lit up. An X was blinking in one of the aft compartments, “From what I can see, this area looks good. While I commend your Gryffindor bravery in beaming into the unknown, sight unseen, I’ve got a better idea.”

The group of former Maquis turned as a compartment opened up and a spherical orb with four spider-like legs walked out. Beyond the four legs it was walking on, an additional four legs were curled up on the top of the machine.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I present GO-4! My own little recon droid. You can thank Lieutenant Paris’ love of old serials for this. Reminded me of the old ‘spy-eye’ robots. This baby can walk anywhere even without gravity. It’s pretty much a walking tricoder,” Harry said proudly.

“So you’re going to…” Chakotay started to say before stopping as the robot faded in the blueish haze of the transport beam.

Harry smiled, “Hey, I realize you folks are explorers and all, but man do you do it weird. I was reading your logs and found an entry about a civilization the Enterprise found that was based off 1920’s Earth due to finding a book or something. Well sometimes I think you Starfleet types base your away missions on old Earth TV. You just send in all the important people into what could be certain death! Well, as I said, mad props to your Gryffindor sides but I think a more Slytherin approach is safer.”

Another screen lit up with information coming in from GO-4.

“Well that takes all the fun and excitement out of it,” Chakotay deadpanned.

“You say that till the alien rips off your face. It’s all fun and games till the bloodletting,” Harry deadpanned back.

“Oh my god!” Torres cried out. “Look Chakotay! That’s Santos and Li-Paz!”

Chakotay nodded, “Harry, can we beam over there safely?”

Harry nodded, “GO-4 reads that the atmosphere is a little thin. Probably why all the life-signs are so low. From what I can see, none of them are in danger of dying and there doesn’t seem to be any radiation to worry about. It looks like a 4 pad beam over is possible.”

Chakotay turned toward the assembled former Maquis. “Okay, Tuvok, Torres, the Doctor and I are going to beam over first. Ensign Tabor take Sergeant Dalby and Specialist Doyle and check out the ship. Jackson, I want you on security with them. Smithee, take the rest and be ready to deal with people we beam over who may need medical attention.”

A chorus of “Yes, Commander!” rang out.

Chakotay looked at Harry, “Anything else?”

Harry shook his head, “I’m getting a better feed now from GO-4. I think whatever brought them here sort of knocked everyone out. I’m really not seeing much in the way of danger. Still, the weapons damage may mean they were in a fight and so could be a bit jumpy when woken.”

Chakotay nodded, “Well they can punch through the Doc all they want. Okay people, let’s get this done!”

**OoOoO**

“Don’t you recognize her, Chakotay? That’s V’Lana Charvanek the Rogue! What is she doing on this ship?”

“The Rogue?” Chakotay repeated as he peered more closely at the person in the captain’s chair. If it was indeed V’Lana, things had taken an even weirder turn. The self-styled rogue was the daughter of the famous Starfleet officer turned Ambassador Spock and the disgraced Romulan commander Liviana Charvanek. While she had gone on to live her life in exile for her part in losing the Romulan cloaking device to the Federation, Liviana had worked with Spock over the years to help relations between the Romulan Star Empire and the Federation. Apparently part of the price of this cooperation was a piece of Spock himself.

V’Lana made waves early when she stole a ship with the help of other children of some of the most famous members of the USS Enterprise and solved a coup meant to topple the government and put in a government more in line with the likes of Section 31. While the rest of the rag-tag group of rogues had gone on to their own notable careers (mostly in Starfleet), V’Lana continued to live on the wild side. If there was danger, money and thrills to be had, V’Lana the Rogue was there. She even had commanded an Orion pirate ship in Kzin space for a time.

Chakotay shook his head. He himself had made overtures to the famous Rogue on behalf of the Maquis. Yet except for some gun-running, V’Lana had refused to get involved with the Maquis. Seeing her on a Maquis ship with Maquis crew made him wonder what could have changed her mind.

The only other two on the bridge were both men Chakotay recognized. Well he was certain of one, Roberto Silvera. The other was almost certainly Thomas Riker but one couldn’t be certain given he was genetically identical to William Riker. Of course, the Cardassian prison togs was a good indicator it was Thomas.

Torres was shaking her head, “V’Lana! I can’t believe it! Did I ever tell you that my mother named me B’Elanna because of her? Mom always said she had more balls than the entire Klingon High Council.”

Tuvok came in from the aft area, “Commander, I believe I have a possible explanation of what may have occurred.”

Chakotay looked at Torres then back at Tuvok, “Okay, let’s hear it.”

“I believe that this ship was part of a prison break. Whether at the prison itself or perhaps in some form of prisoner transfer as Meyers and Santos are wearing Federation prison outfits. With your discovery of V’Lana, I postulate that she was hired to affect this jailbreak. I further conjecture that this was done somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant near unstable space. This could hide the ship and then be used for cover. Somehow, however, they either fell into a wormhole or somehow triggered something which sent them here. Ensign Tabor reports the computer records are garbled as is the engineering data.”

Harry’s voice came from where GO-4 was plugged into the main computer, “Yeah, all the ship’s info is a mess. I think it’ll take a day or two to make sense of it. Best wake someone up and just ask them.”

“So who should we wake up and who should do it?” Torres asked. They had had to send the Doctor back to the ship as residual verteron radiation was interfering with his mobile emitter.

“I believe I should be the one to wake V’Lana. Regardless of whether or not my being an agent inside the Maquis is known or not, I am a Vulcan and V’Lana would likely not act aggressively against me. If she does, I am the only one here strong enough to withstand an attack before you can stun her,” Tuvok volunteered.

Chakotay gave that a moment of thought before nodding, “Make it so. B’Elanna, set your phaser to stun plus and move to the side. I’ll stay here as I’m the one she’s had the most contact with.

Torres nodded at Tuvok moved forward and readied a hypo-spray. However, he moved a hand up to one side of V’Lana’s face. He softly began to speak, “You are safe. You must wake. Wake into peace and safety.”

Tuvok slowly chanted this for a while before raising the hypo-spray towards V’Lana’s neck. However she suddenly reached up and grabbed Tuvok’s hand as her eye’s opened and she gasped out a shuddering breath.

“Peace, V’Lana! Peace! You are safe,” Tuvok said softly but firmly even as it was obvious to Chakotay and Torres that she was putting a lot of pressure onto his wrist. Finally Tuvok’s words penetrated enough for her to get her breathing under control and to release Tuvok’s wrist. Tuvok slowly got up and gave her space.

The three watched as the woman got control of herself. “Water?” she finally asked.

Torres stowed her phaser and gave her a drinking tube, “This has got an energy booster in it. It should help.”

“Thank you,” the woman said. Chakotay felt she hadn’t really taken in her surroundings yet. This was confirmed when after the half-Romulan, quarter-Vulcan/quarter-Human finished taking a long pull on the water before looking up. Her eyes went wide in surprise.

“Chakotay, you look pretty good for a dead guy,” V’Lana finally said. “Although you’re one of the last people I expected to see in a Starfleet uniform.”

“V’Lana, I know you have a lot of questions but right now that can wait. What happen to your ship? How did you get here?” Chakotay asked.

The woman looked out the main view-screen, “Depends on where here is? We’re obviously not anywhere near where we were given the nebula is gone.”

“Again, V’Lana, that’s not the big issue. What are you doing on a Maquis ship? You told me it would be a cold day in Sto-Vo-Kor before you joined the Maquis. Tuvok thinks you were hired for a prison break,” Chakotay asked.

“Tuvok, huh? Another dead guy,” V’Lana said as she began to massage her head. “Okay, yeah I was hired to get the last of the Maquis away from the Dominion.”

“What do you mean the last of the Maquis?” Torres said dangerously.

V’Lana swiveled her chair to face the trio, “Oh hey, B’Elanna. So you’re not dead either. As to the last of the Maquis…well except for who you see here and those who got themselves captured previously by the Feddies, the rest are dead.”

Before a murderous looking Torres could reply, Chakotay cut in, “Sadly V’Lana, we’ve been out of touch for the last three years. We’d only heard rumors about the Dominion being a major empire in the Gamma Quadrant and that was about it. Why would the Dominion be holding Maquis prisoners?”

V’Lana laughed which turned into a bout of coughing. She drank the last dregs of water before continuing, “Well the Dominion weren’t holding them exactly. You see the Doms like to collect races into their Empire and the Cardassians were the first Alpha Quadrant race sucked in. Oh we’ve been having a fine bit of interstellar war while you’ve been away. Lots of atrocities, death, civilian displacement and planets ruined. The Maquis were a blip in all this. Your little group of freedom fighters went from being a threat to less than an annoyance. The bulk of the Maquis lasted barely a month when the Dominion’s Jem’Hadar started augmenting Cardassian forces.”

“No!” Torres said in a tight whisper.

V’Lana went on as if Torres hadn’t spoken, “With your movement crushed, old Silvera here felt what was the use in holding on to the last of the Maquis budget? So he hired me to grab the last Maquis before they disappeared into labor mines. I nabbed the first from a Federation prison transport and got the rest here from a Cardassian ship bound for some new Dominion run prison. Unfortunately instead of Cardassian reinforcements, I got tagged by Jem’Hadar instead. Those damn Alphas of theirs are so fanatical, they’re too stupid not to know you don’t shoot in a class X nebula. Last thing I remember was an explosion, a massive rise in verteron particles and then another explosion and then waking up here.”

V’Lana paused before looking suspicious, “Where is **_here_** anyway?”

Chakotay sighed, “I hope you didn’t have a pressing engagement after this prison break mission.”

V’Lana sighed, “Let me guess...we went through a wormhole didn’t we?”

“All the way to the Delta Quadrant,” Chakotay said. “But as bad as that sounds, you managed to show up right between the only two known Alpha Quadrant ships out here. If you’d shown up a few months ago, we’d still have been 9.5 thousand light years away.”

One of V’Lana’s eyebrows went up in surprise, “Either you have an amazing story to tell or I’m hallucinating right before slipping into death as the ship’s environmental system fails around me.

Chakotay chuckled, “No, you’re awake. Trust me, if I hadn’t lived through the last three years, I wouldn’t believe it myself.”

V’Lana got up slowly, “You’re all wearing Starfleet uniforms. What gives?”

“Well it turns out Tuvok here was a Starfleet agent all along, but my ship was destroyed escaping the station we were taken to from the Alpha Quadrant. Since then, we’ve all been serving on Voyager,” Chakotay explained.

V’Lana was silent for a moment before she shook her head, “Well at least my passengers will have people they know. Me? The only people I know who were lost with Voyager is Captain Janeway and your See-Moe Lance McGarry.”

“I regret to inform you that Commander McGarry was killed in the event which transported us here to the Delta Quadrant,” Tuvok explained.

“We lost a lot of people and Voyager was undermanned when it went after me in the Badlands. I can say that you and everyone here will be welcomed with open arms,” Chakotay said.

V’Lana scowled, “I hope you don’t expect me to go all Starfleet. That’s just not my style.”

Suddenly Harry Potter blinked into existence with a small pop of air displacement, “Oh I wouldn’t worry about that as much. The crew is starting to get more interesting as the days go by.”

“What the hell, Harry!” Torres exclaimed. “What did you do to the transporters?”

Harry smirked, “Oh I didn’t use the transporter. I just used apparition. Most witches and wizards worth their salt mastered it by the time they graduated.”

V’Lana’s eyebrow rose drastically again, “Witches and wizards?”

Tuvok sighed, “As odd as it sounds, yes. Mister Potter is a bona fide wizard. The last of his kind. He spent the last 200 years or so hiding out from the Borg on one of their cubes.”

“And I got off Earth right before everyone got nuke happy!” Harry said with a slight bow.

“You’ll like him, V’Lana,” Chakotay said with a sigh, “I’d wager he’s better with knives than you are.”

“Not possible,” V’Lana scoffed.

“Well I **_was_** nicknamed the Reaper for a reason,” Harry said as he pretended to brush lint off is tunic.

V’Lana’s eyes narrowed before she turned to Tuvok. “Okay I’m really starting to think I’m dying from hypoxia and hypothermia as environmental controls fail.”

Tuvok sighed, “I can assure you that we are telling you the truth. If anything, we have learned the Delta Quadrant is awash with the fantastical and coincidental. For example, we ended up being part of a civil war in the Q Continuum itself. It manifested to our frame of reference in the manner of a civil war back in 19  th  century Earth.”

“You should have seen when we found Amelia Earhart!” Torres quipped.

“Or being trapped in the middle of a war by the Borg and a predatory race from Fluidic Space,” Chakotay said grimly.

“I like the logs entry on when you had those giant macro-viruses flying around your ship,” Harry said with a grin, “Oh! Or how you ended up in the 20  th  Century that one time.”

V’Lana scoffed, “Okay that last one isn’t a big deal. My father ended up in the 20  th  Century three different times!”

The room fell silent. Finally Tuvok spoke, “I realize that this levity is probably a coping mechanism for what we have just learned. I must ask, Commander, without a ship’s counselor to ease us into it, how do you intend to break the news? Neither the Federation nor the Maquis crews will be happy with this news.”

Chakotay sighed, “You’re right Tuvok. Still, we can’t do anything about it out here in the Delta Quadrant.” He turned to V’Lana. “Likewise, you’re now about 60 years from home. That’s what we’ve got projected ahead of us.”

V’Lana was silent for a moment before shrugging, “Well I’ve lived this long already, another 60 years will be easy. Besides, it’s sounding like it’s never a dull moment out here.”

Tuvok made a face, “Sadly, dull is something we’ve yet to encounter. Your reputation for adventure will serve you well out here.”

Chakotay nodded, “Let’s get everyone beamed over to the Phoenix so the Doctor can check them out. I’ll inform the Captain of what we’ve found.”

“I’ve already got the Phoenix ready to tractor the Marianne back to Voyager. From what GO-4 has found and the info coming in from Tabor’s team, this ship needs work before it’s warp core can be restarted,” Harry said.

Chakotay shook his head, “We might as well have Voyager come to us. It’ll be faster. Plus it will give us time to find out more about what’s been going on in the Alpha Quadrant.” He turned to V’Lana. “How bad is it?”

“Bad but not ‘Oh no! The Federation!’ bad,” V’Lana said with a throwaway gesture. “Now if the Romulans come in against the Feddies and Klingons…well then it could get sticky really fast. Still, all my contacts say the Romulans seem to think it best to let the Klingons and Federation beat back the Dominion and then expand their territory when the war ends. I know that’s what my mother believes. Luckily for the Alliance, the Gorns can read the signs as well and are aggressively probing Romulan space. So while it’s pretty hairy back home, the core worlds aren’t in any danger yet. It helps the Bajoran wormhole got closed for a bit.”

“Well then, at least, we will not be the bearer of only bad news,” Tuvok pointed out.

Chakotay nodded, “After what we’ve been through, I’m not sure. Hard enough to worry about getting home without worrying if your home will be there when we get there.”

**XxXxX**

  
  


**CHAPTER NOTES**

While Harry said it as Gee Oh Four, the name is obviously a pun on go-four = gopher. And V’Lana is referring to LCDR Lance McGarry’s title as Chief Medical Officer or CMO (See-Moe)

Also the name of the Maquis ship _The Marianne_ refers to a French symbol of the Goddess of Liberty. The ‘nose art’ painting that Harry references is that of the famous painting _Liberty Leading the People_ by **Eugène Delacroix** commemorating the July Revolution of 1830, which toppled King Charles X of France.


	7. Brig

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, this chapter is sort of a take on the episode 30 Days. Also, this is an EXTENSIVELY exposition heavy chapter. You’ve been warned…but there will be lots of death by knives next chapter, I promise. Also, if you have Janeway on a pedestal…well you just might be a tad disappointed in this chapter.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“You have to find out who you are aside from what the media say you are. If you've become reliant on them for kind of a sense of self, then you're really screwed.”_ **Daniel Radcliffe** – English actor and producer – 1989-Present

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-22-2020

**XxXxX**

_Captain’s Log; Supplemental, Star Date 51120.6. Crew morale has dropped dramatically in the last few weeks as the news of the goings-on in the Alpha Quadrant have spread throughout the ship. The Maquis crew have been especially hard hit. There even was a rough patch where many of the Maquis felt that if they had not been trapped in the Delta Quadrant that they may have made a difference. This ignited resentment against my decision to save the Ocampa. Luckily, this was diffused by V’Lana and the Maquis she rescued. As Thomas Riker told me, ‘Chakotay’s people would have been as helpful as a few more shuttles up against a Borg cube.’_

_Added to this was the incident between Tom and Harry. No one is happy with my decision and that includes myself. However, I have to weigh not only the now of ship operations but the future. Harry Kim represents the future and needs to be molded properly if he can be the officer I believe he can grow into. As for Paris, my heart goes out to him that he had to take the fall. However, given previous reprimands, to say nothing of what Harry Potter threatened him with, I feel Tom’s actions were generally poor._

_Sadly, I can’t tell the crew any of this. I wish I could but transparency in this case would wreck the delicate balance of the now and the future I’m trying to maintain._

**OoOoO**

_ENS Paris, Personal Log, Star Date 51120.2. What do you know? I’m in prison again! I guess few will be shocked by this. Have to say, though, that for all the juvenile reeducation facilities, detention centers and outright prison, Voyager’s brig is the worst. Nothing to do but stare at the walls. Do they expect me to stare at the lights and come to enlightenment? So far I’m on Day 5 with 25 more days of this torture prettied up as discipline. What else can you call this? I haven’t been given any tasks to keep me busy. No sims to help me ‘work through my feeling’s and the like. Maybe the Captain just up and forgot we don’t have a counselor on board who’d be making this time more productive. All I have is this room with no doors, no windows or screens. Just a bed and fresher unit. I can’t even control the lights. I get 10 hours of light and I’m in darkness for the rest. You’d think they’d at least program the lights to respond to my movement! I’m literally being kept in the dark here!_

_All I can do is think. Ever since they beamed me into the secure brig, I’ve run my mind over what happened. Okay, hanging out with Treana as much as I did was probably a bad call. But Orion pheromones be damned, she was fun! So many of the crew still have their Starfleet approved broomstick up their ass. Hell, that’s what attracted B’Elanna to me in the first place. She, at least, saw a lot of the Starfleet crap for the bullshit it is. But put some lieutenant commander dots on her collar and she turned into a good little ranker._

_Not that I’m blaming her. She’s been looking for acceptance her whole life. I wish I could get the same. Treana made me laugh. Sure she laughed at my stuff but I’m not stupid. Orion women can mold themselves into whatever they need to find the best mate they can. I_ _**have** _ _served with Orions before so it’s not like I’m a newbie like Harry. He’s lucky he was dealing with me and not an Orion male. One of them would have totally fucked Harry up. People who talk about how ruthless and cunning Ferengi are haven’t served with Orions before. Of course it’s not like many of them ever go into Starfleet. Most would fit in as fanatical troops of Chaotica._

 _I wonder how Harry’s taking all this? He’s such a wreck when it comes to women! Potter told me that I chase after women I can’t have. As much as I hate to admit how true that may be, at least I go after real women. If we had a counselor, Harry would be in big trouble over falling for a holodeck character. I, at least, knew to keep boundaries with Treana. Give an Orion an inch and they_ _**will** _ _take a mile. Poor Harry gave up a lot of miles._

_Of course I will get him back at some point. Nobody breaks Tom Paris’ nose and gets away with it. Right now, I’m more pissed about that then getting demoted._

  
  


**BRIG, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51121.1**

Tom rolled over when he heard a pop and felt a slight breeze brush over him. Something that should be impossible in a cell built directly into one of the main bulkheads that held Voyager together. He looked around his cell for any hint of what made the noise which was impossible given it was completely dark.

A darkness which abruptly ended as patch of blue flames appeared in the left hand of Harry Potter.

Tom was rather proud that he didn’t yelp in surprise over this.

Harry took the few steps to the fresher and with a wave of his right hand, created a vase which he transferred the blue flame into. He gestured again and a plush chair appeared into which he promptly sat down in. “You want a chair, Tom? Or you okay with the bed?” Harry asked.

“Can the chair come with a beer?” Tom asked a bit sarcastically.

Harry chuckled, “I don’t see why not.” Another gesture and another chair appeared along with a small table with two full pint glasses filled with an amber liquid.

Tom got up and sat down as well. He took a drink of the beer. It was cool and hoppy. “I thought you couldn’t create food?”

Harry shrugged, “I didn’t create it. I summoned it. I’ve become quite the bartender for Voyager. So I have been busy transfiguring various things. Sadly, it may taste like beer but until hydroponics starts growing something we can make into an alcoholic, beer-like liquid, all I can do is simulate the taste unless I use a replicated alcohol first. I’m sure you’re well aware of how often that is allowed to happen. I find it ironic that synthehol is harder to replicate as the real thing.”

Tom scowled, “Yeah. I can’t believe after all this time we haven’t done that. I mean I know we always had other things we needed to grow and replicator rations were always tight. Still you figure it would be easier to do some home-brewing, no matter how bad and then feed that into the replicator. A lot less energy to replicate when your base material is similar to what you’re trying to make.”

Harry laughed at this. “I find it ironic that your replicators sort of have the same restrictions as magic. Sure you can create a beer from scratch but it’s so power intensive. So yeah, easier to transfigure something close to what you want. I’ll talk to Neelix about it.

Tom took another sip from his beer, “Of course Janeway and Tuvok would space themselves before they let us drink real alcohol. I was shocked they allowed it after our sims with all the new crew. But I doubt you popped in here to discuss Voyager’s lack of a pub. So what gives?”

Harry drank deeply from his own glass, “Well I wanted to check up on you. My visit here is unsanctioned and nobody, not even the main computer knows I’m here. Any review of the security logs will have you tossing and turning a bit before finally sleeping. So we can chat for as long as we like without anyone the wiser.”

Tom raised an eyebrow at that, “Why do you feel the need to check up on me. I’m bad boy Paris who needs to be locked away from the impressionable young officers lest I corrupt them.”

Harry gave Tom a flat look, “I know you’re joking but just stop. I’m fully aware you got railroaded by Janeway. She had a choice and it seems to me that she felt that you were worth scapegoating over really putting the screws to Kim. You’ve been around the block, Tom. I’m sure you picked up on that.”

Tom sighed and finished his beer. “Can I get another? And maybe some food that isn’t bland as hell?”

Harry waved his hand and Tom’s drink refilled and two baskets of fish and chips appeared.

“How come you don’t use your wand?” Tom asked as he gleefully began to dig into the food.

Harry shrugged, “I used it at first because I was unused to using my body again. However, I don’t really need to do it. I am the Wand and the Wand is me now. In fact, I learned quite early that the last bit of magic of Earth lives on in me. Maybe someday it will fade and I’ll finally be able to age and die. Till then, I’m stuck being immortal unless something tough enough kills me.”

“So why _are_ you here?” Tom asked after the pair had fallen into a silence as they ate.

“I figured you and I could help each out,” Harry said after swallowing some chips.

Tom laughed, “Well first off, I can’t see how I can help a wizard like you. Plus, I’m sort of busy rotting in the brig here.”

Harry smiled, “Well it’s because I’m a wizard that I need your help. I happened to be browsing through the holodeck options and was surprised that your garage sim is private but still publicly viewable.”

Tom blinked at this, “Well sure, it’s only private because I didn’t want people using it without knowing what they were doing. Safety protocols are great and all but Starfleet has a long history of issues with holodeck technology. I figured if anyone wanted to play grease monkey, I’d want to show them the ropes first.”

Harry swiped a chip in some ketchup, “Sounds prudent. Especially given Voyager is sort of a test ship that never got a full check after the maiden voyage.” Harry popped the chip in his mouth.

“Any reason why you were interested in my garage sim? Don’t you wizards fly around on broomsticks?” Tom asked.

“Yes we do. But some of us wizards had access to a motorcycle that was charmed to fly. My godfather Sirius created it and I tinkered with it a lot after the war. I don’t know about you, but I found the simple work on the engines and the like soothing. I even got into working on rotary airplane engines when I found out my paternal grandfather flew Spitfires during World War II.”

Tom blinked in surprise, “Really? I’ve actually flown a sim of one of those. Of course I’ve flown pretty much everything with wings. I love to fly.”

Harry nodded, “I know. As much as everyone loved me for my skills at being a Quidditch seeker, I simply loved to fly.”

“Okay, so we both like to fly and tinker. How am I supposed to help you with that?” Tom asked.

“Because I want you to adapt your garage sim so I can work on things as well,” Harry said.

**OoOoO**

“So what’s it going to be today, Mr. Wizard?” Tom asked as the pair appeared into the holodeck on the Phoenix. Of course it was more appropriately a holoroom since it was about the size of the mess hall on Voyager.

“As much as working on the planes has been fun this last week, I figured we could do something a bit different,” Harry said as the bracer around his right wrist morphed into a full armored glove. From his index finger, a computer interface formed and Harry jacked into the system.

Tom laughed, “I find it funny how you just don’t tell the computer what to do.”

Harry shrugged, “Perhaps I don’t like to announce what I’m doing. Plus I can do a lot while jacked in like this. I’m not only calling up the programming but getting an update on a lot of things. I like to multi-task.

Tom looked around curiously as the room changed around him. To Tom, the room didn’t look like it would be out of place in Utopia Planitia. Tom had been there a few times to know. “Want some help on the Phoenix? Or wanting to upgrade the Marianne? Oh! Are we going to look at what we can do to turbo-charge the Equinox?”

“None of the above!” Harry said with a grin. “I think you’ll like what I’ve got planned for today. Remember last time we got to talking about the captain’s gig?”

“The Aeroshuttle? Now there is a sweet ride. I wish the Captain would let us use it more. Of course we rarely need something to cruise around inside a planetary atmosphere for,” Tom replied.

“Well I said something to Ensign Kim the other day about it and he brought up your desire to design a more robust shuttle. Given that the Phoenix is pretty much an over-sized runabout, we still need something better than the Class 2 shuttles. They just aren’t capable enough in the Delta Quadrant,” Harry explained.

“Thank you! I’ve been saying that for almost a year now!” Tom said enthusiastically. “So I take it we’re going to work on my Delta Flyer design?”

“That we are, Tom!’ Harry said with a grin.

**OoOoO**

Tom leaned back in his chair as he watched the screen begin to run a simulation related to changes to the hull to allow for more stress to be handled by the hull itself instead of hull integrity fields. Tom felt that Starfleet ships relied on them too much. They were fine on most ships but a deep-space exploration vessel like Voyager? No. He’d rather not worry about hull breaches simply because there wasn’t enough power to go around during an emergency. If Tom had learned one thing doing all the sims with Commander Tahl commanding one of the teams was there was way more useful things to do with energy than having to shore up one’s hull integrity fields.

He swiveled his chair towards where Harry was standing and manipulating hard light simulated parts of the ship. He recognized it as coming from the same vintage movie Harry’s armor came from. Tom had to wonder why this technique hadn’t been used before. He felt it would be another in a long line of life imitating art. Of course on various things like this, Harry had told him it probably was due to World War III. Earth had been devastated and before they’d barely began to bootstrap themselves back up, they were thrown into the galactic civilization. Why develop your own tech when there was so much proven technology just lying around?

Still watching Harry move the simulation around and having the computer make real time adjustments seemed such a better way of doing things. Tom wondered if this was another example of the ‘nerfing’ that Harry had talked to the Doctor about. The Doctor had done a lot of thinking after his talk with Harry and Tom often was a sounding board for those thoughts. Well he had been before the fight with Harry Kim over Treana. That reminded Tom of something Harry had said.

“So, Harry. You mentioned you were talking to Harry the other day. How is Janeway’s pet project?” Tom asked.

Harry chuckled, “Gee Tom, why don’t you tell me how you really feel?”

Tom simply scowled in reply.

Harry chuckled again, “Just yanking your chain, Tom. As to Ensign Kim, he’s actually not doing too well. You’re a popular guy and I think quite a few people feel that you were the one that got demoted and tossed into the brig because you had the rank to lose. So there’s been a bit of a push-back on him. Personally, while I see Janeway’s reasoning, I feel she had ample cause to just give you two a warning and some extra duty and loss of replicator rations for a month and call it good. Besides, Treana has been moved permanently to astrometrics with Seven.”

Tom rolled his eyes, “I’m not sure that’s any better.”

Harry shrugged as he guided the two simulated pieces of the warp nacelles into place before making a face at the numbers generated and pulled them back again. “Seven is still plenty Borg enough not to have Treana’s pheromones affect her. Given that we are still far from Starfleet, I’m sort of surprised she’s not forced into using a suppressor like the Deltans have to use.”

Tom shook his head, “Deltans sexuality aura is an esper trait. It can be suppressed without interfering with all other cognitive functions. After some initial discomfort, Deltans can wear them without any issues. The original suppressors ended up causing some long-term issues with Orions. Today, if you have any Orion crew-members, they are assigned to ships with Federation races which aren’t affected.”

“Well given the original Orion fleet mutiny which formed the basis for the Orion pirates, I could see why Starfleet might be a bit leery of having an all Orion crew,” Harry said as he began to rearrange the aft section of the Delta Flyer sim.

“Exactly,” Tom agreed. “Still, to many people don’t realize that the pheromones aren’t as powerful as the stories say. You can focus through it. I certainly was doing just that although no one believes me.”

“I believe you, Tom,” Harry said.

Tom was about to continue his rant before Harry’s words penetrated, “You...you do?”

Harry nodded as he waved his left hand and the engine nacelles disappeared and a different configuration appeared. “Tom...look I know we didn’t get off on the right foot at first.”

“Having one’s nuts and throat held at knife-point is a bit of a downer, true,” Tom deadpanned.

“True. But look, I think the last fortnight would at least made you realize that I’m not holding a grudge. I’ll also freely admit that coming after you so soon after me being ‘me’ again wasn’t right and I’ll apologize, again, for it. So yes, Tom. I do believe you especially I know from personal experience why you can do what you did.”

Tom blinked at this. Belatedly he realized that he and Harry had bonded pretty well over the last 10 days. At first it was mostly just silently working on their different engines or vehicles while the radio play old time music. But over time, Tom had opened up and the two had started talking. Tom had found that Harry actually could relate to a lot of the issues Tom had growing up. Not that Harry had an admiral for a father, but having people try to force him to be something he wasn’t.

“Okay, so I’ll bite. How come you aren’t blowing me off like everyone, even the Doc?” Tom asked.

“Well back on Old Earth, there was a race of magical beings called Veela. They are the basis for a lot of the myths of sirens. Veela had a magical aura not too dissimilar to what Deltans have. The difference was the Veela’s was enough to make most men into complete and utter idiots when around a Veela. However, depending on certain meditative aides or just a strong will, one could ignore the Veela’s lure,” Harry explained.

“Okay, that sounds good but how does that relate to me?” Tom asked.

Harry sighed and stopped working on the sim for a moment. “If there is one thing we both share is a love of flying. And flying the way we do takes discipline. You have to be very aware of everything around you and at the same time be able to tune it out and focus on where you’re going and where you need to be and how not to crash going getting there. That takes a kind of focus most people just don’t have. It’s also why I’m with you and your push to have more tactile controls. You fly better when you can _feel_ the ship. You can’t get that pushing buttons.”

Tom nodded with a fierce grin, “Damn straight!”

Harry gave a grin in return, “So yes, I _do_ believe that you were very much aware that Treana’s pheromones were in play but you didn’t let them affect you too badly. Kim? That boy took one whiff and let his dick do the thinking. It’s sad. After three years in the Delta Quadrant, I would have expected better from someone in his position.”

Tom huffed, “Harry has always had relationship issues. If we had a counselor on board, he’d be in therapy right now. So would I...but then again, I’ve got you.”

“Well you can’t live for over a hundred years and fight in two wars without learning a few things,” Harry said as he started working on the ship design again.

The computer behind him beeped so Tom turned back to see what the sim he had been running said. The two worked in silence on their various projects as music from the 80’s and 90’s played. Tom still preferred the era of classic 50’s rock but he had to admit Harry’s music was growing on him.

“You know Tom…” Harry said before stopping himself.

Tom swiveled around again, “Yes?”

Harry had an unsure look on his face. Not something Tom was used to seeing. Finally the seemingly young wizard continued. “Look, I am not a counselor but I think that maybe on this you might want to continue being a bit defiant. Maybe wait till after we link up with the Equinox. That should be a few days after you get out of here anyway. For all she’s the captain, I don’t think Janeway is handling certain things well. I’ve been talking a lot with Neelix and I think that too often your captain is making decisions which might be good for Voyager but not for the Delta Quadrant. That and I think what some of the crew says is true. You folks are still acting like you could be home in time for Christmas. She can’t keep running the ship like she has been.”

Tom leaned back in his chair, “So what mutinous actions are you expecting me to keep doing?”

Harry smirked, “I’m wanting you to do what is right over what is easy. Plus, it will save the damsel. As Captain Proton, you should like that.”

Tom laughed bitterly at that, “Now wait a minute. You went on and on about how all those serials were filled with terrible, old fashioned ideals that have no place in the world of today.”

Harry nodded, “I did. And I still feel that way. It would be nice if Penelope Pureheart or whatever she’s called in your serial would save your miserable butt for a change. However, what I’m talking about is one aspect of Captain Proton I can empathize with. It’s all about saving people. Doing the right thing for the right reason can be hard. Believe me I know. I used to save people for all the wrong reasons. I got away with it because I _was_ saving people.”

Tom looked confused, “You’re losing me, Harry.”

Harry chuckled, “Look, we humans are complicated people. And we’re still a young race. For all we like to think we’re not that bad, the Vulcans are right. We suck. We humans get away with it because we still manage to get shit done. But the truth is, under the veneer of progress, the humans of 23  rd  Century really aren’t that different from those back in my time. And that’s sad. But what I’m trying to say in our case is we’re both adrenaline junkies.”

Tom smirked, “Okay I’ll agree with that.”

Harry laughed, “I figured you would. See I used to save people because I was primed to be the hero. But worst, underneath all that was the underlying belief that I was a freak and a burden. So I could risk my life because to me, my life wasn’t worth that much. I ended up doing so many things I thought were right for all the wrong reasons. It took me a long time to begin to realize that the life I’d been taught to believe I wanted wasn’t what I wanted all along. Unlike you, though, I didn’t rebel.”

Tom was about to deny that last bit but bit his tongue.

Harry smirked at that, “I guess being in the brig has helped. Yes Tom, most of your bad boy personae is just you pushing back on all the ways your family, Starfleet and society wanted to mold you. Your problem is that for too long, you’ve kept focusing on what they’re doing to you and not thinking about what who you are supposed to be. It’s like what I told B’Elanna and Seven, it’s hard to be yourself when you don’t know who you want to be. You and B’Elanna might actually have made a good couple because you might have been able to help each work on similar problems you have.”

Tom frowned at this but finally nodded, “Yeah...I guess you’re right about that. I’ve been thinking about B’Elanna a lot and I realized that you were right. I was chasing a B’Elanna I had in my head. The B’Elanna who did a lot of things I liked. But she is a lot more than those things and if she worked her issues through...well she wouldn’t be that B’Elanna anymore, right?”

Harry nodded, “Exactly. I’ll tell you something I’ve never told anyone before. Before the end, I really started to resent my family. Don’t get me wrong; I loved my children. I even loved my wife Ginny. The truth, however, is that after the war, I let forces push me into this supposed fairy tale wedding. Ginny wasn’t emotionally ready for it and neither was I. Worse is we all felt Ginny would make it in professional Quidditch and I’d fight corruption as an auror. None of that happened.”

“What did happen?” Tom asked quietly. He didn’t want to spook Harry given the wizard was a gold mine of information but almost never talked about his past in other than very general ways.

“Well one day I woke up and was eating breakfast and realized I had turned into my uncle,” Harry said sadly. “Oh I wasn’t abusive or anything, but I was just going through the motions. Day in and day out, the same thing over and over again. I wasn’t fighting corruption; I was just another auror doing a job that’s long on boredom and thin on exciting crime fighting. I lost more blood to paper-cuts filling out forms then I ever did fighting bad guys after the war. And Ginny? After a disastrous single season in Quidditch, she just sort of gave up and turned into her mum. It’s like she just stopped being her own person. She went from the feisty gal I went to school with to Mrs. Potter. It’s like she just stopped being Ginny and now was only my wife and mother to my kids. Life was peaceful, filled with family and friends and I was utterly bored to death.”

Tom chuckled softly, “Well they always say a lifetime of service is 19 years and 11 months of boredom and one month of sheer terror.”

Harry gave a wan smile, “And I had gotten all of the sheer terror knocked out in my school years.” Harry looked away, a sad look on his face. “The truth I didn’t want to face for the longest time was deep, deep down, I was happy that the world was ending. I had a quest again. Me against terrible odds and at the end, the day is saved just like in a Captain Proton adventure. And what’s even worse than that? Ginny finally got a clue. She finally realized I didn’t love her and probably would have divorced her years before, even with the kids. I didn’t because that’s not what something society would have allowed me to do. The Hero does not divorce from the Damsel he saved.”

Tom gave a small grunt of agreement, “But we don’t live in a Captain Proton episode.”

Harry turned back with a haunted look in his eyes, “No. They say we live in the hells of our own making. I walked into mine because I didn’t question the path I’d been put on. I went to my death being guided, some might say artfully manipulated, doing what I thought I was supposed to do. So what did I do after returning from the other side? When finally my strings were cut and I was free? I meekly put my chains back on and did what I was expected to. I didn’t know enough to have the courage to do what I should have done.”

Tom realized that, in a way, he’d been doing the same thing all his life. His father wanted him to do something and Tom always worked to do the opposite. For all his rebellion against his father, he wasn’t doing it for himself, but in response to his Dad’s action. He’d been allowing his father’s actions to dictate everything he did. He wasn’t being a rebel; he was just doing whatever would piss his dad off the most.

Tom watched Harry. It was obvious the wizard was lost in thought. Lost in memories over three centuries old. Thoughts which had been buried before Starfleet or the Federation existed. He also realized what Harry had been trying to tell him. Until Tom could figure out who Tom Paris really was, he was still just the rebellious son to Admiral Paris...and he always would be.

Finally Harry looked up, his green eyes almost glowing, “To get back to the question at hand, I think you need to defy Janeway in regard to Treana. I’m not saying she is going to be your true love or anything. Maybe it’ll just be a lot of sweaty sex and that’s it. My point is you were in control and you are one of the few on the ship who can actually handle her. You should be allowed that chance. The fact that Kim got himself infatuated to the point of fighting you and breaking your nose is beside the point. Sure you were breaking a direct order from your captain. But it was an order she shouldn’t have made in the first place. Voyager needs to be less of a ship with a captain with complete power and more like a mobile city. You and Treana are both adults and she’s a civilian. In fact, everyone who didn’t graduate Starfleet are civilians no matter what rank you toss their way. You shouldn’t have to suffer for Janeway trying to protect one of her junior ensigns she’s trying to mentor up the chain.”

Tom was silent for a moment. “Fine. But I feel there is a personal reason on your end that’s driving this. Just because I like your advice, I think you’re pushing some of your past faults into your advice. So what gives?”

Harry looked startled before Tom’s point dawned on him. Then Harry’s face broke into a lop-sided grin, “Good catch Tom. I guess our talks _have_ helped. You’re right though. I am trying to keep you from doing something which happened to me.”

“Let me guess, a woman is involved?” Tom said with a smirk.

“Isn’t there always? Yes there was. Two in fact. I was getting interested in the first when things started to go to hell in the war. To this day I have my suspicions that some love potions were involved as that relationship suddenly went from developing to forgotten in the span of about a month. The second was with a friend that had been by my side since the beginning. When things were darkest, when Ron bailed leaving us as two against everyone, she was there. Neither of us had been very good at going with what we wanted. She ended up with Ron because she felt she wasn’t good enough for me; the Hero, the Chosen One. So she settled on my friend as the next best thing. Me? I didn’t go after her even as I felt Ron wasn’t good for her because I felt it was a terrible thing to do to them. Looking back, everything would have been a lot better if I’d done what was best for the both of us and told everyone else to bloody well fuck off,” Harry said sadly.

Harry looked away, “I miss my kids. I even miss Ginny in a way. Yet even now, I know a lot of it is I feel like I’m supposed to feel that way. Because not too proves I’m a terrible person.” Harry looked back at Tom, “Yet I know that if I had them back and a call came in to go fly off and play the hero? I’d be on the first transport to the front lines. No matter how much they are truly my family, they are like a prop. Just another part of the scenery in a Chosen One serial episode. Not real at all.”

Tom threw up his hands, “Well all this sort of kills the innovative mood. How about you magic up some serious drinks, we kill some liver cells to the point where even the Doc can’t revive them and we toast to fucking our lives up? Then we can talk about women, tell lies about what we did with said women and forget about everyone’s expectations of us for a few hours?”

Harry made a gestured which saved and exited the sims that had been on standby the whole time, “Mister Paris, I am proud to be a part of this plan!”

**XxXxX**

**CAPTAIN’S READY ROOM, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51140.4**

Harry took note of the suspicious looks the bridge crew gave him as he was escorted by two security personnel to the captain’s ready room. The door swished open to reveal Captain Janeway looking stern behind her desk, her elbows on her desk with fingers interlaced before her.

“That will be all,” Janeway said to the security types who nodded and left. The door swished closed behind them.

Harry tried hard not to smirk. A lecture was coming. It was written all over Janeway’s face. He wondered if she’d trot out the “I expected better from you” or maybe McGonagall’s old favorite, “Your behavior is deeply disappointing.” Still, Harry thought it prudent to help remind Janeway of who she was dealing with before the dance began. So with a wave of his hand, he conjured a chair and sat down without asking. “So, you wanted to see me, Captain?”

The stern look turned into a scowl, “Yes I did. I wanted to give you a chance to explain your actions.”

Harry crossed his legs, grabbed his chin with his right hand and leaned his right elbow onto the armrest, “Can you be a bit more specific? I’ve got quite a few irons in the fire.”

Janeway’s eyebrows knotted as her scowl intensified, “You damn well know what I’m talking about! There is only one person who could get Ensign Paris out of the secure brig cell and that’s you.”

Harry shook his head, “Actually if she put her mind to it, I’m betting Seven of Nine could do it. Actually a few of the former drones might be able to do it. Of course, I think only Seven would be able to cover it up. Come to think of it, V’Lana probably could as well. So, I take it Tom wasn’t where he was supposed to be as needed? Did he miss one of the ping-pong matches?”

Janeway stood up, leaning forward with her palms on her desk, “I don’t have time to play 20 questions, Mister Potter. Paris was not in his cell for at least 3 hours today. Computer records can account for everyone on the ship and on the Marianne except for you.”

“Never mind you can’t track me when I’m on the Phoenix. Or you can’t track me if I’m onboard Voyager if I don’t want you knowing I’m here. That little fact aside, how about you ask me a question first before just accusing me, hmmm?” Harry said with a slight smirk.

“You’re the one answering questions, Mister Potter. It is you who are interfering in ship’s business,” Janeway pointed out.

Harry leaned back in his chair, “Ah, so I’m interfering supposedly by sneaking Tom out of the brig. That’s what you’re saying, right?”

“Mister Potter, we don’t have to play this game. Tuvok was able to sense that Paris was with you. I want to know why,” Janeway said tightly.

“Ah...alright then! Now we’re getting somewhere!” Harry said with a predatory smile. “So remind me again on the legality of self-incrimination using telepathic races against non-telepathic races against their consent and without legal counsel? I seem to recall seeing something like that while reviewing info the Borg had assimilated after the battle of Wolf 359.”

Janeway seemed startled by this but she recovered quickly, “That is not the issue here. It is not your place to be removing Paris from his confinement. Plus it is a gross violation of trust on your part and I’m deeply disappointed in your actions.”

Harry couldn’t help but break up laughing, “Wow! Under five minutes and you’re already channeling my old transfiguration teacher. Well, Kathy, I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’ve been told that life is full of disappointments. That and they build character whatever that’s supposed to mean.”

Janeway blinked at this before recovering, “Mister Potter, you are a guest on my ship…”

“ _ **WRONG!** ”_ Harry bellowed as he suddenly jumped to his feet. This startled Janeway enough that she fell back into her chair.

Harry thrust out his arm and pointed an accusing finger at the captain, “Voyager is **_NOT_** your ship and you bloody well better start realizing that right now or things are going to keep going south on you! Everyone on this ship owns a part of it but you refused to admit it!”

Janeway moved to get up but found somehow she was stuck to the chair, “I’m the captain of this ship!”

Harry threw up his hands and did a little jig in place, “Ewww! Look at me! I’m the CaaAAAptain!” he said in a mocking, falsetto voice.

Harry’s arms dropped to his side and his whole body went so still as to be chilling. His eyes seemed to gleam with menace. “I don’t give a bloody fuck-all about what Starfleet says about who is in charge on this ship because it’s almost meaningless. Neelix tried to point this out to you but none of your senior staff can see outside the box. You keep acting like Voyager is a ship, a ship that _you_ can run by fiat. The truth is, Voyager is now a mobile city like I recently told Tom. And yes, I have been taking Tom out of his cell. Instead of letting him brood for 30 days, I’ve been bonding with him, teaching him and learning from him. Oh and we got a really snazzy design of the Delta Flyer ready that’s really going to knock everyone’s socks off. So forgive me if I don’t give a rat’s ass how you feel about me doing so.”

Janeway continued to try and get up even as she was wondering how long Harry Potter had been stealing Paris away from his confinement.

Ignoring her, Harry began to pace, “I’m telling you Kathy, you and your senior staff need to get better at facing up to the issues on board. You can’t run this ship under military discipline, telling people who they can or can’t sleep with and expect to get anywhere. I get you were trying to protect Ensign Kim but why did you have to punish Tom? Was it because you felt you had to do something? Or are you starting to realize the reality of things and felt you needed to crush any semblance of rebellion against your rule?”

“What are you talking about? You make me sound like some barbaric 20th  Century despot!” Janeway said hotly.

Harry laughed again, “There you go again! Please check your 23  rd  Century egotism please! Let me tell you something, Captain Kathryn Janeway, but you, Starfleet, and most of the humans in the Federation are laboring under this **_delusion_ ** that you have advanced past the dark ages of our collective human past. Let me tell you, as someone from that dark past, that you haven’t. Humanity has barely changed at all. You’ve got secret police in the form of Section 31 and V’Lana tells me that the Federation Council, made up mostly of humans, is violating rights with abandon. Oh yes, there are those pesky shapeshifters to deal with. Yet when the chips are down, wow, did the supposedly advanced Federation go right for what was easy rather than what was right. You just up and said that Tuvok used his Vulcan powers on Paris! Let me guess, Tom wouldn’t answer your questions, you couldn’t take no for an answer and Tuvok, bless his Vulcan heart, has been around us corruptive humans long enough not to tell you to blow yourself out the airlock for asking him to violate law, custom and his morals.”

“You are a dangerous unknown! You’re proving it right now! I needed to know!” Janeway said.

Harry rolled his eyes and threw up his hands in disgust, “Listen to yourself! You’re proving my point! You just can’t see the danger can you? Of course not because you’re too stupid to see it. And you know what? I am too! So is most of humanity! Because we’re barely out of the cradle! You 23  rd  Century people forget that humans have only got off the ground in the last 500 years! That’s a blip to the rest of the galaxy! That’s not even three generations of Vulcans! Most races have been civilized for longer than humans have known how to make fire! And yet there you sit, with your Starfleet rank and boldly go where ever the hell you want because you won’t admit that at its core, Starfleet is run by a bunch of adrenaline junkies who can’t wait to see what’s over the horizon. I should know because I’ve been one of those types since I was 11 and I got on my first broomstick.”

Janeway tried to speak but no sound came out. Worse, while she wasn’t completely paralyzed by whatever Harry had done to her, she couldn’t move her hands enough to press the emergency button.

Harry stared at her for a moment before making an airy gesture, “Let me ask you something Kathy. You’re having a typical day at Starfleet Academy. You and a few of your classmates are on the grounds just taking in the sun and worrying over the upcoming warp field dynamics test when there is a loud explosion from a nearby building. What do you do?”

“What do you mean?” Janeway asked.

Harry leaned closer to her, “There’s been an explosion on campus, you can see the smoke billowing out of the building? What. Do. You. Do?”

Janeway scowled, “Well of course I’m going to go and assist in any way I can!”

Harry eyes glinted and his mouth quirked into a tight smile, “Oh really? Are you sure? It could be dangerous!”

Janeway scoffed, “And there could be people hurt and in need of help!”

“So you’re just going to dash into an unknown situation, one you KNOW is perilous without any thought that maybe there are procedures in place to deal with it. That maybe even as you rush into danger, that people with the skills and tools to properly deal with the situation are even now moving into the area. No, you see a situation and you just react and go!”

Janeway gave Harry a flat look, “You make trying to save lives sound as if it’s the wrong choice.”

Harry shook his head, “No Captain Janeway. I’m trying to point out that we humans are still at the ‘ _we’re lucky they let us off our planet_ ’ stage. Maybe back in the bad old days, the days way older than me, that behavior might be alright. But now? All your ‘courage’ in throwing yourself into a dangerous situation just shows how we humans haven’t done much in the way of evolving. Think Kathy! Starfleet Academy and the rest of San Francisco has the latest fire-fighting and lifesaving technology available! Injure people can be beamed out by their comm-badges! All you and your fellow smart monkeys are doing is rushing in and potentially creating more people who need to be saved.”

Janeway made a face but didn’t say anything.

Harry nodded to show he knew he’d made his point, “You know what other major race does crap like that? The Klingons. That doesn’t surprise me because they were a subject race of another race. They really haven’t had the time to learn how to do things other than the way it mostly was when the Old Kings were still around. Just like humans. We were developing our own tech, thinking up new things. But then we let our toys get ahead of our capacity to use them. What the bio-weapons didn’t kill, the nukes mostly finished off. Think about that Kathy. Think about what would have happened if Cochrane’s ship had just exploded in its launch tube. What would you, the Captain of Voyager, think of such a world as Earth even 100 years after that if you discovered it? You’d probably look down your nose at them. Being proud that you, as a human, had transcended that sort of squalor and pain. I’m betting you’d be all, ‘Captain’s log, blah blah blah. Encountered a race that stupidly nuked themselves back into a dark age. We’ll go down and preach the Federation gospel and raise up those poor pitiful savages.’ 600 years later and we’re still convinced we know what’s best for people. I wonder if Chakotay ever sees the irony given our ancestors did the same thing to his.”

Janeway continued to glared at Harry but the wizard could tell his words were getting through. They had better. Harry had immersed himself in Voyager’s logs since he barely slept anymore. He knew a lot of Starfleet captains over its history had done pretty much just as Harry had said.

“I’m just saying, Kathy, is that we humans got let out of our crib too soon. The Vulcans made a mistake and now most of the Alpha Quadrant is living with that mistake. Humans really need to cook a lot more before we can be trusted to help run our little bit of the galaxy. We’ve managed to get away with it because we are too stupid to know when we’re beat. So we keep trying, and somehow we manage to do the impossible. And that’s great. I got away with doing the impossible quite a few times. But the point is, I shouldn’t have been put into that position in the first place. You shouldn’t be in the position of being here, messing up the Delta Quadrant like you have been. But you’ve been getting away with it because the crew, also mostly human, are more focused on you getting them home and less on about how badly you keep disregarding your Prime Directive.”

“I’ve done what I have done to save this crew and to save the lives of people like the Ocampa who couldn’t save themselves,” Janeway said tightly. It was obvious that she was not liking having the tables turned and being the one lectured to.

“I wonder if Starfleet will feel the same way,” Harry said shaking his head. “I wonder how many races in the Delta Quadrant were cheering Species 8472 on. How they felt a savior had come that would wash away the creeping threat of the Borg. You took that hope away from them.”

“Species 8472 was a threat to the entire quadrant! I had to act!” Janeway snarled.

Harry smashed his fists onto the table and snarled right back into Janeway’s face, “ _**YOU DID ALMOST NOTHING TO CONFIRM THAT THREAT!**_ ” Harry glared into Janeway’s defiant eyes till the captain looked away. “Kes gets some garbled telepathic feelings and you just up and decide that’s good enough for you? Don’t deny it! I’ve already gone through your logs. You did almost nothing when it came to trying to communicate with Species 8472. You didn’t try and get Tuvok to boost Kes’ abilities and send your own message out to confirm things. I’ve looked at your sensor logs. There wasn’t a single non-Borg planet destroyed. Worse, I was piggy-backing via the Collective at the time. Species 8472 only attacked Borg vessels and planets. But you didn’t take the time to check that, did you? Of course you didn’t! You’re the captain and you have to act! I wonder how many sentients have been assimilated since you decided to interfere in a war you had no business being in.”

“I did what I thought was best,” Janeway finally said.

“Well I’m sure that the people of the Delta Quadrant will forgive you then,” Harry said sarcastically. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that Starfleet seems to teach you that being the Captain of a ship is some magical, mystical, position where you have a responsibility to uphold truth, justice and the American way...or something like that. It’s all a bunch of old school, human crap! Voyager is just a bunch of stuff cobble together so a bunch of cobbled together organics can get from place to place. You don’t have any right to stick your nose into other races business! But you do it because Starfleet has been promoting the myth of _The Captain_ for a long time. Personally, I blame Jim Kirk for helping this along. Now there was a human who kept kicking anthills and getting away with it.”

As much as she wanted to disagree with the wizard, she had to admit that Kirk had made a career of breaking the rules and instead of being tossed into prison, kept getting promoted. Which did little to refute Harry’s point.

“Let’s circle back to you being the captain, shall we?” Harry said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You keep saying you’re the captain and you have to do this or that. Well that’s good for you but except for Chakotay, it’s rare than anyone has the moxie to tell you that you’re wrong. Everyone genuflects to the holy chain of command. Let me ask you something, did you tell Chakotay or Tuvok you were going to drag me in here and give me a stern talking to about Paris?”

“I let them know, yes,” Janeway said carefully.

Harry made a face, “And did Mr. Tattoo and Mr. Frowns-A-Lot agree with your plan?”

Janeway nodded, “They had some concerns but they both finally agreed that it was necessary.”

Harry snorted at that, “I bet they did. So here’s the deal, Captain. I know I’m an unknown. I threatened Mr. Paris and you know that I’ve killed a **_lot_** of people back in the day. Still, I’ve tried to go out of my way to show that I have no intention of harming the crew. In fact, without my help, you’d be lucky if you came within a parsec or two of the Equinox. So why did you think it was a good idea to jeopardize that mission and or antagonize me?”

Janeway started to speak but Harry cut her off, “If you say, ‘because I’m the captain and I have a duty to protect my crew’ I **_will_ **turn you into a newt.”

Janeway quickly shut her mouth as that was pretty much what she almost said.

Harry nodded, “I thought so. Can you see? Everything you do, you justify it because you’re the captain and so it’s all on you. Yet you’re not seeing that being the captain isn’t being anointed by God to go out and fight the good fight and smite the wicked. You’re just the highest-ranking person. And more to the point, you are in charge because the folks beneath you respect you and the system enough to go along with it. Now is a good time to remind you that this is your first major posting as Captain. Even everyone’s favorite poster-boy of how to be a proper captain, Jean-Luc Picard, had two postings as captain before he got to the Enterprise. A posting which allowed him the chance to really screw shit up if he wasn’t careful. You? You’re only on your second real captaincy and there is nobody but those below you to critique your work. If you were honest with yourself, how do you think your old mentor Admiral Patterson would think of everything you’ve done out here?”

Janeway looked away, her face burning. She didn’t know how Harry knew of her link to Admiral Patterson and right now she didn’t care. Janeway hated to admit it but she knew that the Admiral would be very unhappy with many of the calls she felt she had had to make.

Harry saw this and sighed, “Alright captain, I’m getting a bit tired of lecturing you. So how about we get to the part where I point out how monumentally stupid you’ve been today. Just like you didn’t do any due diligence regarding Species 8472, did you really think through what would have happened if you royally pissed me off today?”

“Mister Potter, with one touch of a button, you could be hit by a security phaser on a setting that would vaporize you as well as a level 10 force-field going up around you. As royally pissed off, as you say, as you might get, I wasn’t too worried. Besides, Tuvok and security have been monitoring this entire conversation,” Janeway said in an even tone. She was happy she’d got her finger onto the emergency button and thus could initiate the actions she’d just described.

Harry laughed. “Wow again. What do they teach you in Starfleet? Because it’s really making me wonder why any of the other Federation races let us humans have any power at all.” Harry gestured to the room around him, “Voyager is a great bit of engineering. I’m sure you’re immensely proud of it. But let’s put some things in perspective. I spent 200 or so years hiding from the Borg on one of their own ships. I stole drones and slowly created the Wart. During this time I was privy to the Collective’s knowledge. I’ve got a lot of the more interesting bits of that knowledge backed-up on the Phoenix. You’ve already seen how I can manipulate Borg technology in a way the Federation could only dream of doing. Without bringing up my magic, did it never occur to you that Voyager is only **_your_** ship because I allow it?”

Janeway couldn’t help but stand up in anger, “What do you mean? You allow it? I am the captain and with my command codes, I can cripple Voyager with a quick series of commands.”

Harry laughed before going on in a deeper voice, “I find your faith in your technology disturbing.” Harry chuckled before continuing in his normal voice, “It would be quite charming if it wasn’t obviously just bravado. Computer, locate Commander Tuvok and all locations of currently active security teams.”

Janeway couldn’t help but gasp as the computer replied, “Commander Tuvok is on Deck 6, education room 5. There are currently no active security teams formed.”

“Computer, what is the security status of the captain’s ready room?” Harry asked with a smirk.

“The captain’s ready room is operating under standard security protocols,” The computer replied.

“Computer! Disregard all voice commands from Harry Potter, authorization Janeway Pi 110!” Janeway barked out.

“Command code invalid, please restate command with the proper code,” the computer replied.

Janeway turned to Harry who shrugged as he threw up his hands with a smirk, “What can I say? I’m just that good!”

Janeway’s glare was cold enough that one could be forgiven for thinking the room should have gotten colder, “How did you get my command codes?”

‘You see? You don’t know how I did it. Which goes to proving my point. You don’t know much about me and what I’m capable of. But instead of treading lightly and inviting me around for dinner where you could politely say something like, ‘So, I noticed that Paris has been missing from confinement. I’m surprised you’d want to share his company’ or something like that. Then we could chat about all my time with the good Mr. Paris. At some point you could just let the matter drop or maybe point out that I could have just asked to do what I did. All very nice and polite. But instead you poked the dragon. And you know what they say about dragons?”

Janeway shook her head, “No, I can’t say that I do.”

“ _Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus_ ,” Harry said with a slight sheepish look. “My old magical school’s motto. I wish I were kidding.”

Janeway bit back a chuckle. There really wasn’t anything funny about the situation even if that motto was humorous.

“So you went and decided that I somehow bruised your Captain’s authority. And so, over something incredibly trivial, you tickled the dragon. So let me show you what dragons can do.” Harry made a gesture with his hand and the Elder Wand grew out of his palm. With another flick, he said in a deadly serious voice, “Imperio!”

Janeway found herself in a happy fog. She also found herself mimicking things her dog Mollie would do even to the point of pretending to pee on the couch. Then she stood up and recited a code Harry gave her that reinstated her previous command code to her. Then, abruptly, the fog was lifted. “What was that?”

“Something I really don’t like doing. They don’t call them Unforgivable Curses for nothing. However, I’ve learned that when it’s me against the Universe, I can be rather forgiving to myself. It’s just a taste of what I can do. I can also not be an asshole. Computer! Delete all security files with a level 10 security wipe for all footage starting with me saying ‘Imperio’ up to this command itself.”

“Security footage wiped to level 10 security standards,” the computer replied.

Harry made a gesture and the Elder Wand disappeared, “I don’t mind putting the verbal smack down on you, Kathy, but nobody needs to see your Mollie act. I did it just to show you how complete the control I had over you was. A control, even though you’re supposedly a 23  rd  Century advanced human taught by Starfleet how to protect your mind. Oh and for the record, a level10 force-field won’t hold me and if I ever allowed any security phasers to shoot me, I can spoof those as well. Frankly, I could break out my knives and kill everyone on this ship with little to no chance of anyone even getting close to stopping me. I was the Reaper, for Merlin’s sake! Why did you think someone with a name like that was going to be anything but insulted that you frog-marched me here with only two normal Joe’s with phasers? Tell me Kathy, where was the logic in this? Because right now, this whole thing has been a shit show from the beginning. You didn’t just tickled dragon, Kathy, you might as well have rammed your captain’s gig into it!”

Before Janeway could say anything, Harry smiled and his face got a childlike look of glee on it. “Oh, I hope you don’t mind but the first chance we get, me and Tom are totally stealing your gig and taking it for a spin. If you’re a good girl, you can come with us. I’ve read you’re a damn fine pilot when you have to be.”

Janeway’s brain sort of hiccupped and she collapsed into her chair, “What are you talking about? You lecture me, you insult me, you force me to do things, you tell me that you have control of my ship and now you want to go out on a lark in my captain’s gig?”

Harry beamed, “Pretty much. Just because you tickle a dragon doesn’t mean it has to breathe fire on you. I just wanted to clear the air between us.” Harry’s face grew serious again, “I’m not kidding, Kathy. I could easily instigate events which would have you put in the brig due to the many violations of the Prime Directive. Oh Chakotay and Tuvok would bitch and moan but at the end of the day? It would stick. Hell I’m betting the crew would even be okay with putting Tahl in charge. But you know what? Neelix was right about another thing. The crew loves you and does expect you’ll somehow get them home. The problem is that loyalty works great when you have rampaging Borg on the horizon, Kazon in your shuttle-bay and macro-viruses roaming the corridors. It’s the day in and day out stuff you’re losing them on. This ship may still need a captain, but right now it needs a mayor more than anything else. If you and whoever you end up having to share power with can make it work, well then everyone wins. Till then, you really need to check your human arrogance because you’re playing in a poker game with a pair of threes and you can only bluff so far.”

Janeway just stared at Harry in silence. Harry stared back. Finally Harry asked, “So...why were you checking up on Tom? He’s got another 3 days on his sentence.”

Janeway blinked at the non sequitur before giving her head a small shake, “We’ve detected the Equinox but long -range sensors show signs it may be under some sort of hit and run attacks.”

“Show me,” Harry said, suddenly all business.

Janeway brought up the data on her screen and swiveled the monitor so he could see, “V’Lana says while she’s a damn fine pilot, she thought Tom would be better at the helm of the Marianne.”

Harry shook his head, “It’s not ready for combat. Not that the Phoenix is but I’m my own weapons array. I’ll head out and run interference. I’m the best one suited. Not only does it keep Voyager away from the risk, look at this. See that? That’s a warp signature from Species 1876, the Hirogen.”

Janeway’s face hardened, “The hunter species we were told about on Talaska IV.”

Harry nodded, “Exactly. Small ships but nasty. However, I can stealth my way in. They’re going to want to board the Equinox and hunt. From the looks of it, they’re still in the cat and mouse stage. If I push it a bit, I can get there and get onto the Equinox before they sally in for the hand to hand hunt.”

“Do you think you can take so many hunters?” Janeway asked, concern obvious in her voice.

Harry suddenly brandished his knives that seemingly popped out of nowhere, “I almost guarantee it. Like I keep telling people, I wasn’t called the Reaper for my Quidditch skills. Time for the Hirogen to get a taste of their own medicine!”

**XxXxX**

**CHAPTER NOTES**

Quite a few reviewers got their knickers in a twist over me have Harry get down on Tom. Well, like I tell a lot of reviewers that MAYBE you should have some patience before freaking out. Sure, Harry felt there was a lot of Ron in Tom but Ron still was Harry’s friend till the end when things got nasty.

Also, think about it, Janeway is nine versions of awesome BUT just like every Starfleet captain, she picks and chooses when she wants to apply the rules. None of the major captains really give a crap about the Prime Directive if they don’t want to. Kirk really should have ended up on a penal colony no matter how many versions of awesome he was as well.

 **Shout Outs** : The whole bit about humans running towards danger is adapted from David Brin’s Uplift series (specifically _The Uplift War_ ) as well as a lot inspired by the internet bit about Vulcans trying to explain to Klingons about humans. If you do a search for that, you’ll find it on Pinterest. It’s hilarious and true. For all the seriousness of Picard and the like, humans of the Federation are still at the, “Hold my beer; watch this!” stage compared to most of the other races of the Federation. Also the little bit about the Delta Quadrant races cheering on Species 8472 is almost a direct lift from what Arturis says to Janeway and Seven in the episode _Hope & Fear _ .


	8. Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**P** **ITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“_ _The best lesson the Raptor can teach you is to be grateful for the prey that sustains you. The worst lesson it can teach you is a practical demonstration of that point._ _”_ **Brasilian Corpo de Fuzilieros Colono Manual for Planetary Survival and Evasion** (Harmony Level 4, _Civilization: Beyond Earth_ )

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 05-27-2020

“ _Ah Harry, my old friend! Welcome to my home away from home!” Khan said as he spread his arms to encompass the opulent room. What had once been a high-class hotel for the world’s elite was now a forward headquarters for Khan’s forces in the region. He’d been walked through what had been part of the hotel’s casino that now was filled with Khan’s theater headquarters staff who were busy tracking the various fronts of the war that had grown to be world-wide._

_Harry bowed in response. No one shook hands anymore. The deadly Covid-19 pandemic of two decades past started the ruin of the practice and the bio-weapons in current war made skin-to-skin contact something one did with caution and not a little trepidation. Harry had to wonder if Khan was channeling Dumbledore some days. No matter that he wasn’t old or his friend, Khan certainly called him that almost every time they spoke. He was sure if Dumbledore were alive, Harry would still be ‘my boy’ to the Headmaster._

“ _So what can I do for the great Khan? I don’t think you went out of your way to find me just for a social call,” Harry asked after the flurry of servants, food and drink tested in front of him and the like had finally subsided leaving him alone with Khan, his faithful bodyguard Joaquin Weiss and one of his lieutenants, Bindu Desai. Desai was drop-dead gorgeous woman who had a smoldering aura of sexuality causing too many people to dismissed her as mere arm-candy for Khan. Harry knew better. She reminded him of the Mentats from that old David Lynch movie. Harry had watched her calculate odds using mind-boggling sums in real time in her head. It was another indicator that Khan and his people were not like other humans._

_Khan laughed, “Do you remember saying that asking for my help with your ICW was making a deal with the devil?”_

_Harry sighed, “I do. I take it that the Devil wants repayment for that help?”_

_Khan nodded, “I do indeed. It has come to my attention that you have continued to work against Colonel Green’s forces.”_

_Harry shook his head, “No. I’ve been trying to save people that don’t need to be slaughtered out of hand. I’ve taken out a few of your troops while doing it. It just is that Green likes to kill a lot of people I want to save. I told you, Khan, I’m not on Green’s side but that doesn’t make me on your side either.”_

_Harry noted the pinched looks on both of Khan’s people’s faces. For all Khan’s disdain for promoting a cult of personality, his own people had no trouble doing it for him. It was obvious they didn’t like Harry’s tone and lack of deference to their leader. Not that Harry cared. He knew that Khan’s bodyguard was allowed to stay only to keep him happy given Khan was well aware that if Harry wanted to, he could kill Khan before his bodyguard could do more than stand up._

_Khan made a dismissive gesture, “Nor am I asking you to be. What I am asking you to do is allow me to direct your actions. You’ve already become a bit of a legend. A shadow that comes and goes, leaving death in its wake. In recompense for my helping you get your people to safety; I wish you to be a blade against my enemy. In return, I will help you in your personal quest to save those you feel are needed. This is something I wish to happen but I am engaged on too many fronts to do much about it. With your help, the few resources I can spare can go a long way. You save those worth saving, and they should be saved, while I get another weapon pointed at my enemy. So, what say you, my old friend?”_

_Harry was silent for a moment before gesturing to Desai, “I take it she’s got an amazing briefing lined up to show me all sorts of targets you’ve figured I’d be willing to take out?”_

_Khan laughed even as Desai looked surprised, “See Bindu? I told you that Harry is no fool. Yes, we do have plenty of targets for you. Green grows bolder and is actively starting pogroms against those he and his faction deem too impure to live in his coming utopia. Sadly, most of these are in lands he controls or are too contested for me to adequately deal with. You can infiltrate and make a difference.”_

“ _One man can’t change the future,” Harry said with a sigh. The seers had been adamant about that. The only way he’d be able to save people for sure was to get them off planet. How he was going to do that was still something he was working on._

“ _Ah but one man can change the present!” Khan said with a waggle of his finger towards Harry. “Yes you are but one man, but you are one man who can strike at will. Killing the commanders, executing the secret police chiefs, bringing final justice to the torturers and the traitors.”_

“ _Greens fanatics are prone to magical thinking. They believe Green and his allies are anointed by their God to bring about His will. There is an aura of invulnerability to Green and the upper echelon of the Purity movement,” Bindu said in a toneless voice as if reading a screen by rote. “You striking in key areas and at important people will challenge their dogma, make them question their faith. Too many fighting in Green’s armies are doing so because he is winning. Many fight simply because they have little choice. Break that image of invincibility and you break some of the hold Green has on his armies.” Bindu called up one of the new hologram projectors and started a presentation._

_For ten minutes, Harry watched as the professional report broke down what was currently known about actions being taken behind Purity lines. Harry frowned as the report ended, “I knew Green’s men are starting to do some terrible stuff. I’ve already seen plenty of it. Still, this is more than I ever imagined he was capable of doing. You’d think the horrors of war would be enough without torture and death camps.”_

“ _You said I was a tyrant and a butcher. I do not deny my forces leave death in their wake. Yet I do not care about creed, dogma, race or religion. I will impose order on this planet. I will give us peace so we may grow and become one human family. In return for obedience, I shall be a merciful ruler. Can you say the same about Green?” Khan asked._

_Harry looked Khan in the eye, “You know I can’t. Alright Khan, I’ll be your assassin for hire. Still, I want it known right up front. I’m not working for you. As you said, you’re just pointing me in a direction I’d go if I knew about it. I also reserve the right not to kill any target I don’t feel necessary. Agreed?”_

_Khan smiled broadly, “But of course! I was expecting these terms and they are acceptable. Let us eat, drink and plan. I expect great things to come of this partnership.”_

_Harry’s face went blank for a moment, “’After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did_ _**great** _ _things –_ _**terrible** _ _, yes,_ _**but great** _ _.’”_

_Khan looked bemused, “Harry?”_

_Harry shook his head, “I was marked as an equal to a terrorist as a child. Who knew I would grow to be his equal in more ways than one?”_

**BRIDGE, USS EQUINOX, SECTOR 27, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51143.6**

“It’s not looking good, Rudy,” LCDR Burke said from where he was looking over the shoulder of Specialist Morrow at the science station. “Whoever these aliens are, they’ve been nudging us deeper into a trap. One that just closed as we’re completely surrounded.”

Captain Ransom chewed absentmindedly on a knuckle, “But why use a trap at all? We’ve already seen a few of those ships could take us. They might be small, with a bare minimum of crew, but we’re no match for them. Why herd us with so many ships?”

“Maybe they like playing with their food before they eat it?” SLT Yates said from the helm. “I feel like we’ve been playing a game of cat and mouse for days and it’s obvious we’re the mouse.”

Ransom nodded, “I hate to admit it, but that sadly looks like the best explanation.”

Beeps from both the science and tactical stations interrupted the captain.

“Captain! All alien ships are moving at high speeds toward our position,” JLT Bowler said from tactical.

“Show me!” Ransom ordered. The main screen lit up with a track of the aliens’ progress. Sure enough, the alien ships where circling in with a pattern reminiscent of an old camera shutter closing.

“Captain?” SLT Yates asked.

Ransom stared at the screen, “We’re trapped. We know we can’t fight our way out of this so let’s just stay the course a bit and see if they hail us.”

Another beep from tactical made Ransom turn towards that station, “Well that was fast.”

JLT Bowler shook his head, “It’s not an incoming transmission! It’s a message being beamed from somewhere on the ship!”

“Let’s hear it!” Ransom barked out.

Bowler fiddled with his console before the message came up on the loudspeaker.

“ _Hirogen hunting vessels, this is Harry Potter aboard the USS Equinox that you’ve been hunting. This vessel is filled with unworthy prey, weak from lack of resources. I, however, was known on my home-world as The Reaper. This name was taken from my world’s image of Death who cut down sentients with an edge-weapon. I have hundreds of kills by my hand and I was responsible for the deaths of thousands by other means. I am the most worthy prey you could ever hope to hunt. I challenge your hunters to meet me on the Equinox, blade to blade. However, if you attempt to harm any of the crew before hunting me, there will be consequences. I will give you a sign to show you I mean business._ ”

Burke looked at the Captain, “Who the hell is Harry Potter?”

Ransom, on the other hand, had gone pale, “If he is who I think he is, which is almost impossible, we may have been saved or just had death deferred.”

More beeps erupted from various stations, “Captain, we had some type of ship come out of cloak for a moment. It fired on one of these Hirogen ships and destroyed it!” Bowler called out. “Whatever that ship was, I was able to see it had a quasi-Borg signature to it before it cloaked out.”

“On screen!” Ransom ordered. The destruction of one of their number seemed to do little to deter the encircling ships. “Well that didn’t seem to work.”

“Oh they’ve taken the bait alright,” said an accented voice from in front of one of the non-functioning turbolift doors.

Ransom whirled his chair around as cries of surprise came from the rest of the bridge crew. A man stood there, with a lop-sided grin on his face. He was dressed in a black one-piece suit with knee high boots. The only color was a red pin of a phoenix being born out of fire where a comm-badge would normally be. Two deadly looking daggers were in his hands. He seemed to be wearing some sort of circlet around his forehead that had a screen over one eye and had an attached earpiece for one ear. To Ransom, it looked like Borg tech.

“I take it your Harry Potter?” Ransom asked dryly.

Harry saluted him with the dagger in his right hand. “That I am. So captain, here’s the deal. You need to order all the crew to their quarters. They are NOT to take any offensive action. In fact, they are to act as cowardly as they can if confronted by a Hirogen. This species lives for the hunt and killing unworthy prey is a waste of their potential. You keep your crew out of the way and I’ll take care of the Hirogen.”

“Wait! Where did you come from?” first officer Burke asked.

“Not really important right now,” Harry said and pointed his dagger at Ransom, “You really need to get those orders out. I’m already detecting an energy build up in the Hirogen ships. If what the kind folks of Talaska IV told us is true, they are about to hit the ship with a pulse which will drop your shields enough for their hunting parties to beam over. They will kill your crew with blades if I don’t stop them. So get cracking if you don’t want your skulls to end up on a trophy wall!”

“You can’t be the Reaper. He would have died two centuries ago,” Ransom said tightly. He’d done a few papers on the Eugenic Wars during his school years. The mysterious Reaper was always a topic students loved to ask about and speculate on. One thing was known about the shadowy figure; a lot of people died by his hand.

“The clock is ticking captain. Get your people to their rooms. As for me, well you better hope I am the Reaper if you want to survive to link up with Voyager and the Marianne. They should be here in a day or so.”

The crew broke out in excited murmurs. “Voyager? As in USS Voyager? Does Starfleet know we’re here? Did they send a rescue mission?” Yates asked.

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Yes Voyager is on its way and no Starfleet didn’t send them. They’re out here because of the same alien who stole you. Now get your damn people to safety!” Harry ordered crossly before disappearing in a pop of air.

Burke and Ransom traded looks before Ransom shrugged, “I’ll take it. Don’t understand it but for right now I’m willing to run with it.” Ransom said before activating the ship-wide communications and began giving orders.

Burke turned back to the science station with a shake of his head.

“Do you think that was a Q?” Morrow asked. “They like to mess with Federation ships.”

Burke snorted, “Who knows? Pull up anything we’ve picked up in our travels about these Hirogen. That they are hunters is not sounding good. I didn’t join Starfleet to end up with my head mounted on a wall somewhere.

“You and me both, Maxie!” Morrow said with gusto as he started to search the computer records.

**OoOoO**

_The man died with barely a gurgle. Yet the spray of his blood from his slit throat whistled just like Harry had hoped for. No matter his current grim role, Harry was still a man and he needed companionship. As much as he hated it, this meant occasionally hanging out with Khan’s people. One of the many generals of Khan’s armies had gotten him hooked on various samurai type shows from the general’s homeland. Because of this, Harry had gotten a bit obsessed at how he killed. As his body count rose, Harry started to try and kill artistically as he could. When he could, he tried give his opponents a chance, no matter how small, to fight back. If he had to kill from behind, he made it quick and as painless as he could. He saved the wounds that hurt and took longer to die from for those who deserved it. The nameless guard he’d just killed had actually done well with his bayonet compared to most. Now as his life-blood whistled as it spewed out under the force of his dying body’s blood pressure, Harry had to wonder if the man appreciated the artistry in his death. To die listening to a kind of music made from their murder. For all Harry tried to pretty it up, Harry knew it was still murder._

_Harry didn’t know what it meant to truly be the Master of Death but he knew that at the moment, he was certainly sending a lot of people into Death’s dark embrace. He had hated the name at first, but as the atrocities of the war continued, Harry had come to embrace the name. The name Green’s forces had come to fear._

_Harry had to smile as he moved away from his latest kill. His enemies had learned to fear the Reaper!_

_At the moment, the Reaper was also in a foul mood. He’d arrived too late to stop the two missiles from launching. Who knew what terrible new plague or other nasty bio-weapon they carried to some distant target? He’d learn soon enough from the news of the dead and dying. However, Harry swore that those would be the last thing that ever left this compound in what was once North Dakota._

_Harry faded once more back into invisibility. The Cloak was him and he was the Cloak. With but a thought, he could fade in and out of sight. Even the most sophisticated of tracking methods failed which is why Green’s people had learned that often the best way to find the Reaper was by having enough bodies guarding a facility so Harry had a hard time literally squeezing through. As much as he appreciated the artistry of his last kill, it was quite probable the man had had a bio-monitor on him. Green’s gene-tinkerers probably knew he was here. Of course there was no alarms sounding to alert Harry that they had done so. No, they had learned not to make that mistake again._

_Still, for all their counters to his moves, Harry was the last wizard on Earth. Protective walls were transfigured into paper, voices too far away to hear might as well be spoken into his ear with the right spell. The only area Harry needed help on was with computers. Khan’s people had supplied him with plenty of James Bond type tech to help him with that._

_A klaxon went off which startled Harry. He looked out from the raised walkway he was on to see the compound’s troops working feverishly to move two ICBM’s off their transport vehicles and into the now empty silos. Harry scoffed at this. They’d never get the time to fire those, Harry would make sure of it._

_Still, Harry was here for a more important reason. He was close enough to see where he needed to be. In a quiet pop, Harry disappeared and reappeared closer to the main building’s control tower._

_Another klaxon blared and now Harry could see the main gate was being opened with lots of troops running around to cover it._

_Looking down, he could see a convoy being prepped. It was obvious that his target was getting ready to leave. Green had little loyalty to his troops. Indeed for all his talk about purity and keeping one’s body sacred, he controlled a lot of his troops through drugs and steroids. All for God’s glory even though Harry knew Green would martyr the lot of them after he had won._

_As Harry was about to do a super-sensory charm, the doors almost right below him opened and a party under guard was hustled out. His target was with this party. Most looked like top brass for this theater but there were a few of Green’s scientists as well._

_Harry let the convoy leave the compound. He’d catch up with them later. Harry centered his magic which was almost all that was left on Earth except for what could still be found in places of power like Stonehenge. After twenty minutes or so, with a pulse, Harry activated the rune stones he’d previously placed in a precise pattern around the compound. These stones would do what most witches and wizards thought impossible. But the Unspeakables had quite a few secrets that Harry learned of before sending them away._

_All around the compound, men and women looked up as a voice sounding like God from up high boomed out._

“ _ **IGNIS INFERNALIS**_ _!”_

_To the horror of all, intense flames began to appear all around them. Buildings were consumed, vehicles destroyed and the flames eagerly hunted down the people as they tried desperately to run. Before they died, all would have sworn the fire had been shaped like various fantastical creatures. The fire burned brightly till everything withing the rune stone rings was utterly consumed. Suddenly the hellfire faded as the rune stones themselves broke into a fine dust which blew away in the evening breeze. Nothing was left but a blackened oval of cursed earth._

_In the convoy, there was consternation of a different kind. A large rockslide was blocking the road. Yet the flat plain of North Dakota had no place such a slide could come from. As the security team worked to find which route was best around the jumble of rocks and trees, the convoy commander fumed. His mood was not made better as the frantic cries over the radio from the compound they had just left cut off with a scream. Over the horizon, a lurid glow could be seen._

“ _Sir, something weird is going on. A fog is rolling in out of nowhere. One of my locals says they never get fog like this in this area.”_

_The commander waved his security chief away from the window of the limo and was about to pick up his satellite phone to call for an aerial extraction when a miracle happened. A man in a black one-piece outfit, with knee high boots appeared in the seat across from him. There was a red pin of some kind of bird on his breast. The three other people in the back of the limo all cried out in alarm._

_With a gesture, two of these slumped over as if a bout of narcolepsy had hit them._

“ _You!” The commander said, horrified at coming face to face with an enemy the top brass was becoming increasingly fearful of._

“ _Me!” the black-clad man said back with a grin. He then turned to the woman in a lab coat who was staring at him in wide-eyed terror. “Hello today’s target!_

“ _Please don’t kill me! They forced me to work for them!” the woman blubbered._

“ _Don’t worry! By target, I mean you’re the one I’m here to rescue. All these other types are just happy collateral damage!” the green-eyed man said with a lop-sided grin._

_The commander went to draw his side-arm but suddenly found himself paralyzed._

“ _Well time to go. I’m sure there are units being sent to this area already,” the man said before smiling and saying in an affected Latino like accent, “But you all get to say hello to my not so little friends!”_

_All the commander could do was gurgle._

_The man turned back to the woman, “Here, hold onto to this piece of rope so we can get out of here,” the man said as he gestured for the woman to take it._

_She did with a look of confusion, “What will this rope be able…”_

_The two disappeared and the commander gasped as he could suddenly move again and the two others jolted awake. At that same moment, screams began to erupt all along the length of the convoy along with gunfire._

_The commander looked out the window and his jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide in terror. Coming out of the fog were dozens of giant spiders. Somewhere as small as large dogs up to a few the size of cows. All were attacking his troops._

_A loud thump on the roof caused everyone in the limo to scream. The screams continued as the roof was ripped off before turning to agonizing cries of pure terror and then agony._

_Soon the screams and the gunfire ceased to leave only the sounds of flesh being ripped and bones being crunched. Yet 10 minutes after the man and woman had disappeared, the giant spiders all morphed back into a collection of various sized rocks._

_The fast-reaction force was at a loss to explain the scene they found as well as the burnt smear of ground which was all that remained of their base. The only thing they could agree on was who had been responsible. At both sites, an emblem of a phoenix had been burned into the trunk of a nearby tree._

_Many of the men who had found these marks had crossed themselves. The formal report would list another Phoenix strike but the troops themselves talked of it being another sign that the Reaper walked among them, cutting them down with impunity._

**VARIOUS SHIP LOCATIONS, USS EQUINOX, SECTOR 27, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51143.7**

Captain Ransom tried not to look in anyway angry. The ‘guests’ on his bridge didn’t look like they would take anything other than immediate obedience very well. As aliens went, they were impressive. All were well over 2 meters tall and towered over his bridge crew. The Hunt Master was intimidating even when standing still with his arms behind his back.

“Transports complete, Hunt Master,” one of the Hirogen said after reviewing a hand-held device. While the smallest, the alien still was easily a head taller than his first officer.

The Hunt Master nodded, “Good! Let us see if this prey is worth delaying the hunt. Although from the looks of it, these humans would have been poor prey.”

Ransom couldn’t help but snort, “Only because we’re in a science vessel that is two quadrants away from our people and low on everything. Head out to the Federation and see how well your hunt goes.”

Surprisingly, the Hunt Master merely grunted, “We shall see. Your information on this Reaper at least looks promising if true.”

Ransom shrugged at this. He noticed his first officer standing with the look of someone who had something to say. He looked up at the Hunt Master and made a small gesture towards Burke. The alien nodded.

Burke looked relieved, “Captain, still not sure what weapon that ship used was but it seemed to have overloaded the Hirogen ships warp core. Almost like it inverted the field somehow. The problem is we can’t figure out how it was done. In fact the torpedo or energy blast barely registered on our sensors at all. How it could have destroyed that ship like that is unknown.”

“Unknown Borg tech?” Ransom asked.

Burke shook his head, “No. The energy was about as basic as it gets. I just don’t get it.”

A loud beep came from the device the smaller Hirogen had been using, “The bio-signs for the Red Claws have terminated, Hunt Master!” the Hirogen said almost happily.

“Good! It appears this Reaper may yet prove to be a glorious hunt!” The Hunt Master said as the two other Hirogen hunters looked pleased by the news.

Suddenly the lights on the bridge dimmed.

“Report!” Ransom ordered without thinking.

JLT Bowler paused as the information started to populated his tactical screens, “Captain, we seem to be having a breach in our environmental controls. All ship lights have dimmed to 25% throughout most of the ship with some areas are on emergency lighting protocols. I’m also reading some activity that…wait. Okay it seems that fog is being produced on various decks. We’re also getting some form of audio on those decks as well.”

This time Ransom looked at the Hunt Master who nodded again, “Let’s hear it.”

Burke hit a control and the bridge was filled with an odd, rhythmic set of tones. Like a funeral dirge but one which had odd sounds like hisses and faint screams added in. The bridge crew looked confused. Even more so when the Hunt Master laughed.

“Ha! This is getting better! The prey is trying to play at psychological war. Good! The glory for this kill will be even higher now!”

**OoOoO**

Harry flicked the blood off his blades onto the wall. This level hadn’t developed the fog yet so the blood spatter on the wall would have to do. He looked down at the two dead Hirogen. They had the same markings as the one on the ship he’d destroyed had. He hoped no one had figured out that his ‘torpedo’ was mostly just an effect and the warp core failure was due to magic. He was running a bluff after all.

Although at least when it came to hunting these aliens, it wasn’t a bluff. On the other hand, Harry was surprised how tough it might be to take them all out. For all he had stealth and years of experience, the aliens had been difficult to take down. Harry doubted he would have the strength to penetrate their armor if his daggers weren’t magical. These Hirogen were big, strong, fast and had a pain tolerance a troll would envy.

Harry pulled the tricorder off his belt to check his trackers. So far, almost all the crew had made it to their rooms except for a few in main engineering under Hirogen guard and those on the bridge. This still left about two dozen Hirogen on the ship who all were vying to get to be the first to kill him.

Harry looked down at the two bodies. It would be a shame to just leave them when they could be put to good use. Harry manifested the Resurrection Stone into the palm of his left hand while the Elder Wand grew into his right hand. With an intricate pattern, Harry intoned, “ _ **Mortuos surgere foedari**_!

One of the dead Hirogen gave a jerk before slowly rising to its feet.

Harry did two quick transfigurations on the Hirogen’s gauntlets so that the fingers now had diamond sharp claws. “Go, slaughter all that are like you. Ignore all others, my inferi friend.” Harry ordered.

Without an acknowledgment of any kind, the newly created inferi shuffled off. Given what had been in Harry’s mind when he gave the command, the inferi would only attack other Hirogen.

Harry looked back at the other corpse with a smile. It was time to resurrect an old favorite of Hermione’s. Harry took another quick look at his tricorder before beginning. To get this transfiguration right took a lot of concentration. Luckily, Harry had played this ‘prank’ a lot during the Eugenics War. It was one of the better ways to spread terror and made a great distraction when he was infiltrating a facility. Major military bunkers underground had been the best place for the prank. As Harry began to complex bit of magic, he had a deep pang of loss. After repressing his memories for so long, thinking of his previous life, what he had lost, had become almost a religious torture. One he ritually took up gladly even as it was like tearing his heart out in the process. In this case, it was thinking about how Hermione of all people like watching horror films and used some to tweak Ron in the process.

With a final twirl and flick of the Elder Wand, the Hirogen corpse began to morph into a greyish-black being with long limbs and a wicked tail. It rose to its feet, it’s elongated head highlighted in the red emergency lighting; the double-jaws gleaming with menace. Harry looked at it and marveled at how the lack of eyes really sold the sinister design. “Hunt, my Giger!” Harry whispered.

He didn’t really need to give it a command given a transfigured creature, no matter the type, acted as it was created to. This is why this creation was so difficult. Harry really had to focus on his memories of Hermione’s favorite, and Ron’s dreaded, horror monster to get the actions right. The Giger (his pet name for the beasts that didn’t have a name) turned and immediately disappeared into a Jeffries tube. Harry hit it with a tracker which would show up on his tricoder. His will had created it but Harry had found that if he wasn’t careful, the transfigured Giger tended to act as it would in the movies and comics he was familiar with. Since that was of a relentless, murder machine, Harry had to give very careful mental images of who were prey else everything became fair game...and that had once included him!

Harry looked at his tricoder for his next possible target but was having a hard time concentrating. He was remembering Hermione taking Ron, Ginny and him to a special showing of _Alien_ and _Alien 2_ when she was getting her doctorate at Cambridge. Ginny had enjoyed the movies in the odd way most Magicals did when it came to them not understanding anything they were watching. Ron, however, barely made it through the first film and quickly bailed during the initial fight scene in _Aliens 2_. Later Ron had told him that the jumping aliens reminded him far too much of their brush with death by acromantula back in Second Year.

Harry shook his head with a sad smile. One would have expected Hermione to be mindful of her future husband’s phobia yet somehow it just emboldened her to watch more such films especially if there were giant spider-like creatures involved. It didn’t help that she found a willing partner in Luna, Rolf and Teddy when he got older. Harry went along for the fun but for him it was mostly had been a social thing. After staring down a 20-meter basilisk when he was twelve along with all the other crap he’d lived through, Hollywood horror films lacked a certain punch. Hermione would later confess that while she did like the films, a big draw was it was the one thing she knew she could do without Ron trying to come along or even discuss later. It was her revenge on Ron for having to live through his Chudley Canons obsession. So between the films and all the comics he ended up reading with Teddy (and later Rose) Harry could create a picture-perfect Giger that would last about two hours. It was sad he couldn’t make it have acid blood but there was only so much one could do with animation and transfigurations at once. Still, the jaws, claws and knife-like tail spike were enough.

Even so, it was the terror that had made them a favorite tool in Harry’s toolbox. He’d heard a lot of panicked cries over the radios he’d tapped into during many a mission. Harry had always smiled when hearing the screams of frightened soldiers freaking out because one of their men had been dragged, kicking and screaming into some dark access tunnel. It was nice for the bad guys to be the ones Harry heard screaming in terror for a change! Sadly, regardless of the few he saved; Harry still saw all the hundreds he had had to leave behind in his dreams some nights.

There was one mission that Harry thought he’d have to abort. However, while he was trying to figure a way to get to his target, he ended up creating more of his Gigers from the search parties he couldn’t always avoid. After a horror filled night, Green’s men amazed him by blowing up their own facility as part of their escape plan. Harry had missed his target that time but having an enemy blow up their own base made up for it. Hermione would have been so proud!

**OoOoO**

Hunter Gothk was not having a good hunt.

In fact, Gothk had been getting a sinking feeling for the last hour that the tables had been turned and he was the prey. He was the last of the Broken Tusk hunters and Gothk knew he had been lucky to remain alive. His pack’s hunt leader and her second had gone to investigate when the sounds of a nearby fight had reached them in engineering. It had rankled Gothk’s pack leader that the Hunt Master had chosen her group to be the ones to guard the weaklings of the ship who tended to the engines. So she had jumped at the first chance at battle.

Not that she or her second had been needed. Gothk and his own second were more than enough to keep the engines secure. The two females and one male were locked in the chief engineer’s office and seemed content to just quietly monitor the instruments. They visibly were cowed every time Gothk would look in on them. Calling them weak prey was paying them too much of a compliment. The only problem that had bothered Gothk was they had been told there were four assigned to engineering but his pack had only found three. Still, the fourth had probably disobeyed orders and was cowering in their nest. Gothk had done a scan for life-forms and had found nothing. This thought was helped by the semi-darkness and red emergency lighting. He knew most species, no matter how advanced, disliked the dark.

A deep rumbling caught Gothk’s attention and he hefted his rifle. There it was again! Gothk scanned the room from his place of cover but still didn’t see anything. This was the fifth time he’d heard the sound. It sounded like someone was dragging stones across the floor. It unnerved him which was not a good thing given he was already rattled. This ship was cursed! It was the only explanation given what had happened to his pack mates.

Gothk checked the dressing on his arm. It was still tight even as he was missing all the armor on that arm. Gothk was glad the armor had been the only thing he had lost. Whatever sorcery had turned his pack leader and her second into the shambling, nearly unkillable things that had attacked him was almost as bad as seeing what happened to the alien that had killed his own second. What could anyone make of killing a horrific beast only to have it transform into a fellow Hirogen? A Hirogen who already had fatal wounds on its corpse?

The rumbling came again and this time a bit of movement caught Gothk’s eye. He cautiously moved his rifle with its attached light source. He scanned the room and saw little to worry him till he noticed a tricoder on the floor. Gothk knew it previously had been on the console. So why was it on the floor next to the silicon experiment the humans had told him about? The reddish orange blob with the small device on its top was something the human female had said they were working on to see if they could grow replacements for some of their parts which they could not replicate. Gothk was no scientist so hadn’t cared what it was and so ignored it.

Gothk didn’t want to get tied to one spot, cover or no, so he cautiously began to make a sweep through the room. As he did, Gothk noticed the prey were staring out their window all in the same direction. Gothk turned towards that and smirked. Perhaps the missing crew member had returned and felt the odds were now in its favor. He would take its skull with pleasure! Gothk moved to where the tricoder was, carefully knelt to pick it up. A quick look found it to be unnoteworthy so he put it back on the console and continued to creep toward the circular work area around the ship’s warp core.

He had only gone about 10 steps when he suddenly realized something. The silicon experiment had been over by the far turbolift when he had arrived. He straightened up and shown the light where he first remembered seeing the mass. As he expected, the mass wasn’t there. As he whirled back towards where he had come from as the rumbling was suddenly loud in his ears. He fired his rifle with a cry but barely registered that his shot hit nothing when the silicon mass seemingly rose up from the floor and tackled him. Gothk felt only a hint of intense agony before dying.

“Wow!” Came a voice from one of the Jeffries tubes. “Now that’s something you don’t see every day!”

Midshipden Moleg turned towards the voice even as it quickly moved off the burnt husk of what had been the Hirogen. While the armor had been quite flavorful, the organics had tainted the taste. While Moleg did not have eyes, it could still sense that the being in the tube looking down at him was humanoid and Moleg felt was probably a full human.

“Identify yourself!” came the artificial voice from the box on Moleg’s back.

The man easily jumped down to the floor. Moleg caught a whiff from the knifes the man was carrying. Whatever they were, Moleg hadn’t smelled the like. It wondered how they would taste?

The man gestured and Moleg (whose senses were 360 degrees in nature) saw the door keeping his crew mates locked in open. They all quickly came over to support Moleg.

“I concur with Midshipden Moleg; identify yourself,” SLT T’Pev asked in a firm tone.

“I’m Harry Potter and I was coming to rescue you but it looks like you managed that all by yourself. Still, sit tight till this is over. I’ve still got about nine Hirogen to take out.” The green-eyed man looked down with a look of wonder, “So what’s the story here? I’ve seen a lot listening in on the Collective but I don’t recall seeing something like this.”

“Moleg is a Horta. It’s a silicon-based race…” ENS Gilmore, a pretty blonde began to say before Harry cut her off.

“...found by the USS Enterprise under Captain Kirk. Okay now I’m tracking. Well, I have a long history of killing people and have seen so many ways you can die but being run over with a Horta is a new one even for me,” Harry said with a lop-sided grin.

**OoOoO**

“Hunt Master, bio-signs for the last of the Broken Tusk pack have failed. We have survivors of Green Fang and Dark Blood packs on Deck 7 and War Cry pack on Deck 5,” the smallest Hirogen reported.

The Hunt Master rubbed it’s chin as he had removed the lower part of his helmet to drink from a frothy liquid that smelled like turpentine, “So many dead and not a single confirmed sighting of this Harry Potter.” The Hunt Master turned to Ransom, “You are certain this Reaper is human?”

Ransom spread his hands, “As much as our fragmented histories say about him. The only contact with non-terrestrial life we had on Earth at the time came from time-travelers and this was not commonly known outside the highest levels of government. Still, no human can live as long as he obviously has especially since he looks young by the standards of our race. Perhaps it is some type of alien who has taken on the form of the Reaper for some reason.”

The Hunt Master seemed to ponder this before it snorted and knocked back the last of its drink. It buckled on its armor and motioned towards the smaller Hirogen, “Beam the Deck 7 hunters here. They can take over watching the ship. They have hunted and come up empty. It is time to show why I am Hunt Master.”

Ransom watched as the Hunt-Master and his second left in the only working turbolift. He waited till the smaller Hirogen finished giving orders via his device. “I mean no offense but does your pack gain or lose status by waiting to hunt?”

The Hirogen chuffed as he fiddled with his device, “The Hunt Master makes the gamble that the prey is worthy and could be taken by the initial hunters. Yes, if they blood the prey well enough there is less honor in the final hunt. But this prey? When the Hunt Master takes its head, the death of so many hunters just enhances the worthiness of the prey.”

Three battered Hirogen hunters beamed into existence. All of the bridge crew could tell that these were far from the proud, fearless warriors they had been guarded by previously. These were hunters who had been bested and bested badly.

The other Hirogen motioned to his smaller second before glancing at Ransom, “Now with Oncoming Storm on the hunt, you will see why we Hirogen are feared throughout this space.” The pair entered the turbolift without a backward glance or acknowledgment of their fellow hunters. It was obvious to Ransom that this was a serious snub. Yet the new Hirogens didn’t seem to care. The largest just pointed at Ransom, “Are you tracking the hunters?”

Ransom nodded.

“How many have been lost?” the Hirogen asked, his voice somewhat shaky.

Ransom swiveled his chair towards the science station and made a gesture to SPC Morrow who spoke up, “You started with twenty-four. We are only reading nine life-signs of your people,”

A Hirogen who obviously was from the Green Fang pack due to the face paints and various icons etched on its armor gave a watery cough and wiped a bit of blood off its lips, “Fifteen hunters! At least when I return to my clan with the news of the death of my pack-mates, I at least survived such a hunt!”

A mournful beeping sounded at the science and tactical stations. Bowler responded first as Morrow turned back to his console, “We just lost the Hirogen signals on Deck 5.”

**OoOoO**

Harry leapt to the side and narrowly missed losing his left arm to the halberd-like weapon the Hirogen hunter was using. He had to admit these last four were good. They’d already taken out the inferi he had on this deck and all his Giger’s had returned to their original corpse state. Still his creations had taken out half of the hunters which had allowed Harry to concentrate on the ones which were tougher and smarter. Luckily for him it didn’t take too much effort to figure out who was in charge of any group of Hirogen. Obviously, they rarely went up against snipers.

Harry evaded some throwing star type weapon when the halberd wielding Hirogen leapt to one side and a barbed net smashed into Harry and painfully pinned him to the bulkhead. The three remaining Hirogen’s let out a blood-curdling cry of victory. This pissed Harry off. As much as he was enjoying the challenge, these Hirogens went from being a relentless enemy to being worse than the lower dregs of Voldemort’s Death Eaters. Mad-Eye would have had a field day with these idiots who paused to crow before the battle was over.

Indeed the Hirogen’s cries turned to shouts of amazement as Harry apparated out of the net. He had to admit that their hearing was exceptional given that even with their cries, all three heard the pop he made appearing behind them.

“Such worthy prey!” The biggest one said even as the one with the halberd charged forward.

Harry, however, was tired of this game. He was running on fumes and his body ached from previous injuries the Hirogen had managed to land earlier, “ _ **Expello Ventris!**_ ”

In retrospect, he realized using the organ expelling curse on someone wearing a mask was probably a tad cruel. Then again, cruel sort of went with a curse where one vomited up their intestines. The halberd skidded to rest by Harry’s feet as the Hirogen began the painfully messy spiral down into death.

The Hunt Master surprised Harry by holding up a hand which caused the smaller Hirogen to lower the device he had used to shoot the net at Harry.

“Nice to see that you realize that I’ve been going easy on you,” Harry said as evenly as he could. He didn’t want the aliens to see how out of breath he really was. It had been a long, long time since his body had had this much of a physical workout. Even the repurposed Borg nano-tech in his body were working overtime to help keep him from crashing. “I think it’s time we end this.”

“I agree even though I was just keeping you within range,” The Hunt Master said when there was a click from the smaller Hirogen and the halberd at Harry’s feet exploded.

Harry was thrown backward, his magically enhanced uniform blunting the explosion though Harry knew he’d have nasty burns on his face to deal with. That and he was sure he’d broken a few ribs hitting the bulkhead. Even so, seeing the Hunt Master stride confidently towards him made Harry allow himself to slide down the wall to rest on his butt. It hurt to look up at his enemy but Harry was used to pain.

“The glory from this hunt will enrich my name and that of our clan for generations!” the Hunt Master said with an expansive gesture.

“I think it’ll be used as a lesson on never gloating over your opponent,” Harry said with a coughing hack. “I _**really**_ think we need to end this pointless fight.”

The Hunt Master ignored him as he pulled out an enormous knife, “Your skull will be the jewel of my collection.”

Harry laughed, “You really don’t take hints very well, do you?”

The Hunt Master grabbed Harry roughly by his tunic and raised him up to eye level, “Any last words? You were worthy prey so I will grant you your final words in this life before I behead you.”

Harry looked into the alien eyes. Even without looking into its mind, Harry saw no pity, no empathy. It made things easier. “Just two. _**Avada Kedavra!**_ ”

Harry couldn’t help but groan as he fell to the floor. However, he counted himself lucky the dead Hirogen had fallen backwards and not onto him as he died. No matter the pain, Harry manifested the Wand and had it pointed at the smaller Hirogen, “Okay sport, this is how it’s going down. I’ve killed most of your fellows and while I’m a bit banged up right now, I can fix that. So here is the best deal you’re going to get. You hunted and lost. I don’t care if you lose face for it but I’m willing to let you and those three on the bridge go back to their ships and leave. I will claim all the ships of the groups I killed. Those left behind will have to hitch a ride with the survivors. You understand?”

The hunter (who had quickly dropped his weapon on seeing his Hunt Master die in green fire with but two words) nodded, “You have won in combat. They are your rightful trophies.”

“Are you going to be able to make this stick with your buddies out in the ships? It would be safer to kill all of you but I’d rather send you back to your people with the warning not to mess with us again,” Harry said as he began the laborious process to heal himself up. He figured just seeing his suit magically fixed and the like would just make the Hirogen that more agreeable.

He was right. The Hirogen made a saluting gesture which ended with him thumping his chest with his fist. “It can be done and it shall be done!”

“Brilliant!” Harry said with a tight grimace.

**OoOoO**

Lieutenant Commander Burke sat in the command chair and read the latest reports on his PADD. The Equinox was in sad shape. The few tussles with the Hirogen had almost been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Without a lot of work and supplies they didn’t have; the Equinox could barely make it past Warp 3. Consumable supplies were almost non-existent and the crew was tired from being on constant alert for the last three years. Burke himself was only the first officer (and a lieutenant commander) due to a field promotion after the death of the first officer. It had been a lot of responsibility to take on so quickly.

It would be easy to fall into despair if not for the hope that suddenly had arrived on the ship.

Of course their savior had disappeared almost as mysteriously as he had arrived. Although the captain and the rest of the staff were sure that Harry Potter was onboard the odd craft that had begun to ‘eat’ if that was the right term, the four Hirogen vessels had left behind. However, it didn’t matter given what Mr. Potter had said when he had first arrived.

“Max! I think this is it! I’m getting a faint signal with a Federation signature on long-range sensors,” SGT Lassing called out from the science section.

LCDR Burke chuffed at that, “It’s an insult to actual long-range sensors that you call them that, Noah.” The ship’s sensors, once the pride of Starfleet, would be over-shadowed by the old Constitution class ships at their current state.

He hit the intercom button, “Rudy? I think we’re about to have the company we’re expecting.” He then got up and moved to the first officer’s chair.

Captain Ransom came onto the bridge from his ready room, “What have we got Chief?”

“Checking now,” CHF Tsmirci replied from the Tactical station. The Deltan’s hands moved over his console, “If it is Voyager they should be entering…”

A beep of communications interrupted the older non-com. Ransom smiled, “Let’s see if the Reaper was yanking our chain or not.”

A crackle of static washed over the bridge before a slightly garbled voice could be heard, “USS Equinox, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager. We will rendezvous with you in under two hours. It will be good to have company our here in the Delta Quadrant for a change.”

The bridge crew broke into cheers. Ransom himself merely sighed and softly said, “Yes...yes it will.”

**XxXxX**

**CHAPTER NOTES**

**Richard Herd** : This chapter is dedicated to _Richard “Admiral Paris” Herd_ who has died at the age of 87 of cancer. May he boldly go to where there is peace, friends and family.

 **Manga/Movie Reference** : One of the shows the Japanese general showed Harry was that of _Lone Wolf and Cub_. **Itto Ogami** killed his way through feudal Japan but he certainly did it artistically! The whistling blood thing comes from the Hidari Brothers known as the Bentenrai. During a fight between these brothers and Ogami, he does this to one of them. It’s called “ _the Flute of the Fallen Tiger_ ” and one of the brothers had always wished he himself had been able to make a cut like it. For readers of Lone Wolf & Cub, it’s easy to see how Harry might want to make his bloody work into something other than what it really was, bloody murder writ large.

**Spells**

Ignis Infernalis – Infernal fire or Fiendfyre.

Mortuos surgere foedari – Rise dishonored dead. Incantation to create inferi

Expello Ventsi – Expel entrails. Vomit up your organs for fun and profit!

 **Harry’s Smack-Down on Janeway** : Quite a few reviewers felt that Harry was being too harsh on Janeway and the Federation. In fact, a few semi-rightly pointed out that a lot of the ‘bad’ stuff of Star Trek came later in the franchise’s history. However, let’s not forget the Jim Kirk followed the rules only when it suited him. Here are a few good examples that people rarely think about.

Kirk and the Klingons: So while we expect the Federation to be putting on a better show by TNG times, let us remember Picard’s Federation gospel speech was pretty much what Kirk was pushing. Yet for all the peace, enlightenment and the like, it took the Organians to stop Kirk from giving the Klingons the war they were obviously pushing for. Kirk himself admits that he was arguing for war without really thinking about it. So, one of Starfleet’s top captain’s “forgets” that he’s not supposed to be dragging the rest of the Federation into a war with the Klingons and has to have an advance race basically spank him to remind him of this fact.

Kirk and the Gorns: While both captains are guilty, Kirk really screwed the pooch in _Arena_. This is another episode where the ‘mythic’ status of being a captain was on display. “I have to fight in this gladiatorial death sport to protect my crew!” Yet when he finds out that he can talk to the Gorn, does he try and figure a way both captains can save their crew? No. In fact, he waits till he wins BEFORE he remembers that he’s supposed to be an enlightened guy. If anything, at least the Gorn was like, “Hey pal, I’m going to do you quick because it’s nothing personal.” The episode would have been MUCH better if BOTH captains refused to play the game, daring the supposedly ‘superior’ race to explain why a death sport was better than just putting both captains in a room where they might have found that the attacks the Gorn thought were coming from the Federation where actually being done by the Romulans. (Not sure how canon that is but it _**is**_ SFB canon) In fact, in one of the early Starfleet Academy ‘zines, they had a fight between a Gorn and Federation ship where the captains basically do what Kirk and his Gorn captain should have done: talk instead of just going directly to combat.

Kirk Part II: Did J.J. Abrams have Kirk steal a vital holy relic for no apparent reason? Yes he did! (Not canon but I point it out that Kirk really was rough early on.

Janeway the Temporal Terrorist: Here’s a plot for an episode. A starship captain has issues in the future and decides the pain is too much so they need to go back in time and ‘fix’ things so their future pain will be erased. Sounds like the episode plot of _Relativity_ , right? Well it’s the EXACT plot of the series finale as well. Except the villain isn’t Captain Braxton, it’s Admiral Janeway. And yes, JANEWAY IS THE VILLAIN here. She breaks Starfleet rules, she steals proscribed tech, she breaks temporal rules, she gets other Starfleet officers to conspire to commit temporal ‘genocide’ as well as bringing future tech backwards in time. She then wages a one-admiral crusade against the Borg.

Okay, the Voyager crew suffered a lot. It took them 17 years to get home, people died, Tuvok got sick and the like. But they got home. Many went on to other things, many had families and the Doctor seemed pretty pleased with his life. How many other trillions of sentients were totally happy with their life at that time? Nope. Doesn’t matter to Janeway because she was THE CAPTAIN and she had a DIVINE RIGHT to protect her crew. So she DESTROYS and _entire_ timeline to do it.

“ _But wait, zArkham!_ ” I hear you say. “ _She destroyed the Borg_.” Yes she did. But we never see how that panned out did we? For all we know, the Borg drones all went nuts and died soon afterward. Given at this point there are probably trillions of drones throughout the galaxy, it is possible Janeway killed them all. So all those drones, all those collective memories, were lost from a potential anti-Borg campaign. All those Unimatrix Zero drones, didn’t they deserve their chance to try and free other drones? Nope! Janeway only cares about her crew. Also, the Queen rightfully points out that if they assimilated Voyager, they’d not only get that future tech but the Doctor’s mobile emitter. Janeway risked a Borg Über Alles universe all because she couldn’t stomach that she lost Seven, Chakotay and that Tuvok went crazy.

Boo fucking hoo! Did she expect everyone to magically make it home? Apparently so because she went for the magical fix. The thing is, the end of canon Voyager probably NEVER happened. Why? Because as the scene of the Federation ships greeting Voyager fades to credits, the time-ship Relativity shows up under Captain Dukane who arrests Janeway and works to put EVERYTHING back to how it was at the beginning of the two-part episode. And why wouldn’t they? They’re time-cops and Janeway was acting just as badly as Captain Annorax did in the Year of Hell arc. But just like in Harry Potter, everything seems to be okay when the good guys do it. (/sarcasm)

Also, one caveat here. At least Admiral Janeway just wanted them to get home. It was _**Captain**_ Janeway and the rest of the crew who felt they had to destroy the Borg transit station. One last chance to fuck with the Delta Quadrant because whether or not it was a good thing or not, it just shows that Federation types can’t help but ‘save’ a lot of people who never wanted to be saved in the first place. In fact, in at least two separate episodes of Voyager, we see how Federation interference or just sending out probes screwed over other civilizations who were busy minding their own business. I’m not saying the Federation is bad. I’m just saying that, like in Harry Potter, the writers want us to just accept the Good Guys are the Good Guys and ignore all the times they aren’t acting like the good guys.


	9. Loophole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> STORY NOTES: If there is one common logic fallacy that writers can fall victim to is that of assuming others have the same info you do. Well I’m finding that many readers of this story have not (GASP!) seen much of Star Trek The Original Series. Here I though almost everyone on the planet had seen every episode at least 4 times via re-runs.
> 
> So here’s the deal, for most of this fic, pretend Star Trek: Enterprise never happened. In fact, I’ve gone back to make a small correction to Chapter 7 to bring this story back to the pseudo-history I’m using which is based off the Star Fleet Battles universe. A lot of the original Star Trek canon got ret-conned along the way and by and large, I’m using the earlier canon. See end notes for more on that.
> 
> BTW, minor point but on my Voyager bridge, the command chairs can swivel. That way the Captain, XO and counselor (or guest) doesn’t have to constantly turn in their seat to look at Tactical or Ops. As one with a bad back, I can tell you that would get old REALLY fast. I’m sure Starfleet has an OHSA type branch. Also, like the Enterprise-D, there is another chair to the left of the captain. You’d want one for important guests and the like. Wouldn’t want some visiting admiral to have to stand now would you?

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“W_ _hat you must learn is that these rules are no different than the rules of a computer system. Some of them can be bent. Others can be broken._ _”_ **Morpheus** – Zion freedom fighter and captain of the Nebuchadnezzar – ? to ?

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 06-20-2020

**XxXxX**

_First Officer’s Log, Star Date 51155.7, Supplemental. It has been two days since Harry Potter pirated the Equinox and Marianne and took off to parts unknown. Although pirated is a bit harsh given he openly stated he was going to do it and never seemed to have any malice as he used our ship system’s against us to beam everyone to Voyager. Not sure why he took Neelix’s ship, but that got taken as well._

_With most of the ship’s systems are on lock-down, there is little to do. We are safely hidden in the icy ring of a gas giant in a system most races would hardly think to even send a probe to. So while we are seemingly helpless, we would be hard to spot if one didn’t know where to look._

_For my part, I am not worried. Seven believes there is a set of instructions embedded into Voyager’s systems which will return full control to us if something goes wrong. The Doctor mentioned how Harry felt the computer should be able to manage a lot of a ship’s systems in this way. So I believe Harry when he pointed out that for our own safety and ‘plausible deniability’ that he didn’t tell us what he was doing. Tuvok agrees with me that this means Harry is doing something illegal that he feels he can get away with but wants to keep Voyager away from any repercussions if things go badly._

_This enforced halt has allowed the three crews to get to know each other. Or I should say four crews given my old crew have begun to turn away a bit from seeing themselves as Voyager crew. I should be worried but I cannot help but feel pride when some of my old Val Jean crew mates refer to themselves as part of Chakotay’s crew rather than just identifying themselves via Voyager. The combat sims with Commander Tahl helped remind my old crew why we_ _**were** _ _a crew. The horrifying news from the Alpha Quadrant had reminded us Maquis who we were and the freedoms we were fighting for._

_Right now myself, Tuvok and Commander Tahl are more concerned about the captains. Kathryn’s poor choice of confronting Harry prior to the link up with the Equinox rattled her. This latest show of power from our resident wizard has kept her in her quarters or ready room most of the time. As for Captain Ransom, I see a broken man. One who had an impossible mission thrust upon him. To be the captain of a ship where the crew knew they were doomed without a miracle. Even though they got that miracle, Ransom seems disinclined to sit back into the captain’s chair again. However, if the Equinox returns like I feel it will, I’m going to put forth a fine idea Mr. Neelix came up with._

_Amazingly enough, however, crew morale is still high. A lot of the crew have been fascinated with the Delta Flyer program Tom created with Harry’s help when he was supposed to be locked up in the brig. The Maquis from the Marianne, while resigned to being stuck in the Delta Quadrant, feel that there was little left for them in the Alpha Quadrant. The crew of the Equinox are simply happy to be in a ship that isn’t one more disaster away from blowing up. So we wait, we tell stories and we wonder what sort of rabbit the Wizard will pull out of his hat._

**CARGO BAY 3, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 27, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51158.8**

“Read them and weep!” Riker said with a grin as he laid down four sevens. The others at the table all groaned. B’Elanna especially given she had been sure Riker had been bluffing.

Ro Laren made a face, “Why do I sleep with you again, Bill? All you do is take my ration credits!”

“I’m guessing you were dropped as a baby,” V’Lana said with smirk as she began to gather up the cards for another round.

Maxwell Burke took a drink before looking sourly as Riker raked in all the replicator ration chips that round had netted him, “I want to know how he got so good given he only had himself to play against for, what was it? Eight years?”

Riker nodded, “Eight years, two months, 28 days and a few hours...not like I was counting or anything. It’s all natural, I’m afraid. I’m told Will is a good a card shark as I am.”

B'Elanna gestured with her drink in Riker’s direction, “I’ve been meaning to ask you; what’s up with this Bill thing?”

Riker shrugged, “Before my capture, one of our money men was from a race farther into Cardassian space. I don’t remember the name but they are big into protocol. In their culture, me using my middle name was insulting to him. Like trying to misrepresent myself. Anyway, his accent made my name come out sounding like ‘Bill’um” so it just snow-balled from there.”

Paris looked up from where he was moving his remaining ration chips into the shape of one of the old Constitution class ships, “Well at least we won’t have two Toms running around. Bad enough with two Harrys.”

Riker nodded, “No one ever called me Bill growing up and I doubt anyone calls Will that. Given I was always a Will, Bill is close enough. Of course I might as well go back to Will given I doubt any of us will meet Will Riker ever again.”

B’Elanna laughed, “Actually a Q pulled him to Voyager a year or so ago. Of course they wiped his memories before they sent him back.”

V’Lana snorted, “I thought my dad got into some weird adventures back when he was with Kirk. Your ship logs read like a bad holo-novel.”

Burke knocked back another drink, “Beats the horror show we had. Weird or not, I’m looking forward to doing missions and not worrying about the ship flying apart halfway through.” He looked over at Tom. “So do you have any idea what Harry is off doing with the ships? I figure you had to talk about the Equinox while you were fiddling with the Delta Flyer design.”

Tom shook his head, “Harry didn’t say much but _**I**_ certainly did. He just once asked me my thoughts on how having the Equinox with us was going to affect things. Harry might be patched into a lot of Borg stuff but for the most part he’s really a low-tech type of guy. Harry told me that he was even an odd-ball among the wizards given he’d do a lot of things normally instead of using magic. So while I’m sure he could go diving into the info he copied from the Collective, he likes to just ask questions and let us ramble. I certainly did. I’m amazed he didn’t get sick of it.”

V’Lana nodded at that, “He did something similar to me. Just up and asked me what I thought of the Marianne and what could be done to make her a better ship. I’ll say that he’s a good listener and has a good eye for what is really needed and what is just eye-candy like those spoilers Harry shot down for the Flyer.”

“But they would have looked _**so**_ cool!” Tom protested.

As V’Lana began to deal, most traded looks and smirks at Tom’s outburst. Tom had groused about the spoilers a lot given Harry did agree with Tom about needing more tactile approaches to ship design. He had, however, drawn the line at something that was just there to look cool.

The game went on with more friendly banter until most of the ration credits ended up in the pile in front of Riker and V’Lana. As much a Riker had a flair for the game, V’Lana was over a century old and had played against more races than the rest probably had met put together.

Burke mock punched B’Elanna as he was leaving, “Don’t forget you still owe me my sweater, BLT!”

She flipped him off, “And I keep telling you that it’ll be the first thing I dig out of my storage unit when we get home. I’ll lay it on your grave!”

Burke made a face and followed Will and Ro out the door.

“So, you want some company back to your quarters?” Tom asked.

B’Elanna thought about it, “Yeah...sure. We really haven’t had that much time together of late. I almost miss you nattering on about old movies...almost.”

Tom laughed, “Working with Harry was fun because a lot of those old movies I had to work so hard to dig up were all only a decade or so, before or after, his time. It was interesting to get his views on them. It’s one thing to read how a certain film or series was important written by college professors 200 years after the fact and another to get the impressions from a guy who saw the films in an actual theater when they originally came out.”

“I can imagine. It really brings home how, even with our technology, humans just wear out so fast,” B’Elanna said as the pair strolled towards the nearest turbolift.

Tom nodded, “Yeah, easy to forget Tuvok is old enough to have serve with the likes of Sulu. Important historical figures to the likes of us and yet just people to him. Things like the Eugenic Wars that we studied in school and yet Harry lived through them.”

“Well hopefully Vorik will live long enough to be badgered into telling stories to young Starfleet ensigns about the time he spent with the infamous Torres and Paris on the famous Voyager,” B’Elanna joked.

The entered the turbolift, “You want to grab a nightcap? I’m not ready to hit the bunk yet,” B’Elanna asked. “Or do you have someone to get back too?”

Tom gave her a sour look, “Yes and no...or at least not tonight.”

B’Elanna gave out the needed deck number and then smirked, “So is it true?”

Tom frowned, “Is what true?”

B’Elanna laughed, “Come on Tom, it’s me you’re talking to. Engineering hears everything. People talk in Jeffries Tubes; people complain about things while we fix their broken crap and the non-Tactical Ops people can’t hold their tongues to save their lives. So I’m just wondering if you’re just flirting with Gilmore just to hide the fact you’re still sneaking around with Treana?”

Tom’s frowned deepened into a scowl before he couldn’t hold it any longer and he grinned, “Maybe I’m doing both and maybe at the same time!” Tom waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated manner.

B’Elanna laughed, “Please don’t tell me you suckered those poor women into your _Leather Goddesses of Phobos_ simulation!”

Tom laughed as well, “I’m hurt that you immediately jumped to that!”

The turbolift doors opened and they made their way to the mess hall. With Gamma shift in full swing, only a few Beta shift types were around. “Hey Kwame! Do you have any tea that won’t put me to sleep but won’t keep us awake either?” Tom asked.

“I do indeed, my friend,” the tall black man smiled which emphasized the fact that he still had quite a few Borg implants showing on his face. Some of the former drones still had them depending on how their conversion to a drone went. That and those assimilated long ago had a harder time regulating their bodies even with Harry able to somehow regrow all their lost tissue. Kwame Annan and been serving on the USS Gjøa, one of the earliest of the Daedalus class starships when he had been taken by the Borg. Like Ensign Mortley, he was around two hundred years old if one simply counted the time since his birth. Yet most of that time had been spent in a stasis field.

B’Elanna and Tom sat down at the ‘bar’ area of the mess hall while Annan busied himself making the tea. Both officers kept odd hours so they saw quite a bit of Neelix’s new cook. While Annan had been trained as a counselor and a diplomat (a family tradition going back to Kwame’s famous ancestor Kofi Annan) he was still having difficulties adjusting to being pulled from the Borg.

“Does it bother you that you’re just a cook now?” B’Elanna asked as the man in question brought them their tea.

“Not at all,” the man said in that charming accent that B’Elanna loved. It was a mixture of old French and African which one didn’t hear anymore as Earth’s accents were becoming more alike each year. “I never had any sisters and my brothers were always better at things than me. So my mother decided that if she didn’t have a daughter to train in the kitchen, I would have to do. I got ribbed for it but they all came running like lions were chasing them to eat what I made. Of course I’m sure that sounds terribly barbaric now. Most of the people who lived through the War along the Ivory Coast were those far inland. We were the ones who were the backwater types with old style values. The ones who barely survived all the plagues. We went from being the country bumpkins to being all that was left after the nukes dropped. I remember wondering if Abidjan would be more than just a reclamation project when I first shipped out. I see in the ship records it is a gleaming city out of fantasy compared to the ruin of my memories.”

B’Elanna sipped her tea, “Tom and I were just commenting about how odd it is to be able to talk to people who saw first-hand things we only know from our history classes.”

Kwame chuckled mirthlessly, “I’m sure the history books made it sound like a glorious time of adventure. For those of us lucky enough to get off Earth at the time, it was. For the rest? It was a long, painful time. Radiation to deal with, mutations of the plagues and given the whole planet had been a battleground, you still had some poor soul getting blown up all the time by old weapons buried for decades. The push to immigrate to new worlds was less about seeking out new challenges and more to get away from the mess we’d been forced to live in.”

Tom nodded, “I know I used to wonder why so many people would take the chance on those old sleeper ships. From today’s viewpoint they were death-traps. I’m amazed so many actually got somewhere.”

Kwame shrugged, “In the long run, it was the one to Alpha Centauri that matter. I don’t know if they teach it in Starfleet Academy today but a lot of scientists back in the day felt it would have been a long time before we would have stumbled onto warp drive on our own. Our understanding of the universe was off so that we just weren’t looking into the maths needed.”

B’Elanna sipped her tea, “If I remember right, Cochrane’s final solution to warp field generation came about because of an inspiration he had trying to teach the Earth scientists on that first ship about their math compared to ours.”

Kwame nodded, “It was something like that.” A wave across the room caught his attention. “Enjoy your tea,” he said warmly before moving off towards the waving crew member.

B’Elanna turned so she was mostly facing Tom, “So, getting back to gossip, are you going to tell me whether or not the rumors are true?”

Tom sipped his tea, “I don’t know. I’m tempted to dig for the dirt on what was going on between you and Seven of all people. Plus, ‘Ms. BLT’, I thought you and Max were getting tight.”

“Hardly” B’Elanna said with a puff of air to push an errant bang out of her eyes. “Oh I’m sure he’d love to rekindle what we had back at the Academy but Maxie was always too full of himself. When I was young I thought it showed confidence. Now I just see it as an ego two sizes too big for his personality.”

Tom laughed, “I guess we all have grown up a bit and all it took was getting us stranded in the Delta Quadrant.” He sipped his tea before continuing, “Since you asked so nicely, yes I have been seeing Maria. She’s nice and I mean that as a compliment. You’re working with her; I’m sure you can see that.”

“I know what you mean. I hate to say that she needs to harden up a bit to make it in Engineering. She needs to learn to tell people _no_ more often as well as making them go through procedures. Nice may be great off duty, but it gets you swamped with work by the other sections taking advantage of you. Sometimes you just have to be a bitch,” B’Elanna said with a knowing smirk.

Tom laughed, “And so many people wondered why Captain Janeway put you in charge of Engineering!”

B’Elanna shrugged with a slight grin, “At least when people come in begging for a favor, I figure their issue has to be bad enough that they’ll risk my wrath! But I get your point. Maria is nice but after her time on the Equinox, I’m not sure if she wants to stay in uniform.”

Tom nodded, “Yeah, she’s mentioned that. I’ve noticed a lot of the Equinox types are like that.”

“Can you blame them?” B’Elanna asked. “Half of them were on their first or second cruise while the other half were winding down in their careers. Neelix really hit the nail on the head when he reminded us that a lot of people wash out in their first two cruises. Now that they have an actual chance at life, I could see the appeal of wanting to get out from under the discipline.”

Tom laughed, “At that includes the two of us. You mutiny to join the Maquis and I ended up in prison. Hardly the poster child for Starfleet recruiting.”

“So what about you and Treana? I might have a source which points me into the direction of thinking that your stint in the brig did little to dissuade you away from her,” B’Elanna said over the lip of her teacup.

Tom was silent for a moment, a blank look on his face. Finally he sighed, “Well you’re the last person who would snitch on me. Yes, I have been seeing Treana. Harry actually put me up to it. Wizard Harry that is. He actually believed me that I can focus through the pheromones. He felt that not only should I be given the chance to prove this but that Treana shouldn’t be punished for who she is. She’s fun and right now I want some of that. Yet Maria is sort of that girl next door type that I never thought I’d like but here we are.”

“So the sex is good then,” B’Elanna said with an affected leer.

Tom grinned, “A gentleman never tells.”

“Ah but rogues brag up a storm!” B’Elanna said back with a matching grin.

“I will just say that most holo-novels underplay how interesting Orions can be,” Tom said.

Before B’Elanna could reply, Tom’s comm-badge beeped. “Paris here.”

“Ensign Paris, are you free?” A muffled voiced asked. B’Elanna hid her smirk with more tea. Muffled or not, B’Elanna knew it was Treana trying to disguise her voice. “I have an issue with the modifications on the Flyer you asked for. I think I need a little of your hand’s-on touch to get it right.”

Tom blushed to his roots, “I’ll be right there.”

“Hand’s-on touch, hmm?” B’Elanna almost cackled.

Tom stood and tugged his uniform back into place, “You are merely jealous that it is I that is being called away for such skills!”

“Maybe so but don’t get too into the ‘modifications’ as you know what a bitch Seven can be about punctuality,” B’Elanna said knowingly.

Tom gave her a hand gesture she knew was obscene on Talaska IV before walking out of the mess hall.

B’Elanna finished off the last of the tea before leaving herself. She wasn’t really thinking about where she was going. It was odd to see Tom doing so well. He always used to have this burning fire of resentment always simmering under his skin. It was akin to what B’Elanna had burning inside her entire life. Yet Tom was right, they were both growing up at last. Or maybe they were just finally having to look at their lives and start doing things that they wanted instead of what they thought everyone wanted them to do.

It was a very new thing for her. Never being able to please her demanding Klingon mother to always seemingly being a disappointment to her human father. Like Harry had told her and Seven, she had lived with a foot in two worlds and had not felt comfortable in either. Maybe that’s why she ended up in Engineering. The machines didn’t care if she acted like a Klingon or Human. Now, however, she saw that it could be a prison of her own making. Forcing people to come to her on her terms, quaking in their boots with dread, trying not to trigger the infamous Klingon temper of hers. Being in charge and not having to have her judgement in her section questioned. Being around the machines that never judged. That wasn’t a life; it was just another charade. Only this time she was the one creating it for all the wrong reasons.

B’Elanna found herself in front of the door to Cargo Bay 2. She was at once surprised her feet had taken her here almost as much as B’Elanna realized it made sense she was here. She went through the door to find things as they usually were. Cargo Bay 2 was spotless, efficiently maintained and even the project Seven was working on was laid out as if with a ruler.

As she entered, Seven came around one of the larger storage bins, “Commander? Should you not be in a rest cycle by now?”

B’Elanna thought about that. She was tired but she felt restless of late. Like something had been missing from her life and sleep did nothing to fill that void. Maybe it was the grief lurking below the surface for her fallen comrades. Even so, as much as that grief fueled a flame of revenge, in talking to her old Maquis companions, she knew that the Maquis always known that they had to tread a fine line of being a threat without provoking a full military response. Those Jem’Hadar from the Gamma Quadrant were exactly the sort of attention every Maquis member knew they could not afford. So while she mourned the fallen, all of the Maquis had known the risks.

No, the emptiness was new. An emptiness she hadn’t realized had been there a long time. A hole she wanted to fill. “I should be but my feet found their way down here. Shouldn’t you be regenerating as well?”

Seven’s eyebrow went up at that, “Your feet...ah this is a metaphor, yes?”

B’Elanna nodded, “It means for whatever reason, I needed to be here. Does that surprise you?”

Seven came over and stood near her in that way of hers where she towered over you and invaded your personal space. “No it does not. Do you wish to engage in sexual congress?”

B’Elanna found herself wetting her lips with her tongue, “Yes...yes I think I do.”

Seven nodded curtly, “Good. While I have ways to deal with Treana’s pheromones, she has been persistent in wanting to engage in licentious behavior with me. This has kept sexual activities on my mind. It is impairing my efficiency. It needs to be purged.”

B’Elanna snorted, “Only you, Seven, could say it that way instead of just admitting you’re horny and need to get laid.”

Seven looked confused, “I do believe that is what I said.”

B’Elanna laughed, “So Treana wants to get into your catsuit, huh? Funny, she’s probably being fucked by Tom right now. Don’t be shocked if she’s late tomorrow.”

Seven _almost_ rolled her eyes, “Such tardiness has been consistent with her since her assignment to Astrometrics. However, the more sexual energy she expends on Ensign Paris, the less she can direct towards me.”

B’Elanna reached up and began to massage Seven’s ample breasts, “I’m surprised you don’t take her up on the offer. The Doctor is always saying you need to work on your humanity.”

Seven’s breath hitched in a manner that made B’Elanna’s blood sing, “While I am sure, given her species, sexual activity with her would be...educational, I believe the Captain would see it as detrimental to our working relationship. Also, I calculate that much of her desire to engage in sexual activities with me is based more on my ability to resist her pheromonal effect than her actual desire for me.”

B’Elanna smirked even as she began to tease the hardening nipples through Seven’s catsuit, “You think she only wants you because she can’t have you?”

Seven’s eyebrow went up, “Is this not what was one of the primary reasons for Ensign Paris’ one-time desire for you?”

B’Elanna shrugged before leaning in and whispering, “Maybe. But I’ve got an idea. How about we work on the tension that’s hurting your efficiency?” She didn’t know why she had developed this need for the enigma that was Seven. What B’Elanna did know was she was on a path she never saw for herself and she found she liked not knowing where it could go.

Seven was silent, her breathing speeding up under the ministrations of B’Elanna’s fingers, “How do you wish to proceed?” Her voice was uncertain and almost needy. It was so unlike her normal, certain tone.

B’Elanna leaned even closer, “Kiss me like you mean it!”

**XxXxX**

**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 27, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51160.1**

“Commander, I am receiving a coded transmission being beamed via a very low-band of subspace. It doesn’t match any type or communication we have seen before,” ENS Chang reported from the Tactical station.

Sub-Commander Dhael swivel the chair to look at the former Equinox ensign. Like herself, Chang was on Gamma shift to help her familiarize herself with Voyager’s systems and protocols. To dirt-siders, the concept of Gamma shift might seem odd given in space there is no night and anything could (and did) happen at any time. Still, all systems needed down-time and so a lot of things were either running on low or going through maintenance on Gamma shift. Even the course and speed tended to be lower. However, due to training, the bridge lately on Gamma shift was packed.

“Can it be decoded quickly or do we have to send it to be processed? Also, is Astrometrics reading anything?” Dhael asked.

“Checking now; stand-by” Chang said with a furrowed brow as her fingers danced over the console.

Normally Gamma shift didn’t have a XO stand in. However, while Dhael had more command experience than most from either Federation crew, she still was a Romulan and one from over 150 years in the past. Because of this, SLT Baxter was in the XO chair next to her, “If they had detected something, they should have already alerted us,” her trainer said with a bit of a frown.

Sub-Commander Dhael shook her head, “Astrometrics is new, even for your ship. It would not surprise me that they are concentrating on long-range scans and processing that data for the morning briefing to Alpha shift. They might not be looking.”

Baxter’s face lit up in understanding, “That’s true given I don’t think Seven has completed any of the needed automatic sensor sweep protocols yet.” He smiled, “Good catch; I guess that’s why they pay you the big bucks.”

Dhael snorted slightly, “You humans! Brag about how you do not use money and yet your language is still littered with references to money.”

She looked over to the science station where ENS Mortley was being tutored by SPC Morrow of the Equinox. Another reason Dhael was on Gamma shift, like Mortley, was one of the former drones that was still having issues sleeping and thus still had to regenerate. While their modified beds drew less power than Seven’s alcove, it was close enough that they were on opposite regeneration shifts to Seven to help even out the power drain. “Ensign Mortley. Are you reading anything out of the ordinary?”

The ensign in question swivel around and shook her head, “No commander. Right now nothing on short- or long-range sensors are showing anything unexpected. The Class V probe is still holding steady on its course and beyond a slightly higher than expected amount of background polaron radiation, there is nothing out of the ordinary. The probe remains on track to be out of range in 43 standard hours unless we get underway again.”

“Commander! I have identified that the transmission was encrypted in a way common during the Eugenics War.” ENS Chang said with excitement in her voice.

Dhael and Baxter exchanged glances, “The wizard!” Baxter exclaimed.

Dhael nodded, “Ensign, play the message.”

Chang nodded and trigger the needed commands.

“ _Ahoy Voyager! This is Pirate Potter inviting you to a week or two of rest and relaxation. Come spend some time while your ship is given some much needed TLC. I’m waiting at the embedded coordinates. So fire up the engines and come on down. We’ll leave the light on for you._ ”

Before anyone could say anything, there was a noticeable thrum of power and the lights brightened slightly.

“Commander, I’m reading the warp core coming back online!” ENS Kim said from tactical. Due to issues stemming from the whole Paris/Treana/Kim triangle, Kim had requested taking up more Gamma shifts to let things die down. “It’s looking like all of the lock-out ship systems are returning to normal.”

Baxter hit the armrest with a fist, “Hot damn! Now we’re getting somewhere.”

Dhael merely raised an eyebrow as she reviewed the readings scrolling across the captain’s reader built into the chair. “Indeed. I want a Level Three diagnostic down on all systems. Make it happen, Ensign Kim.”

“Aye commander,” Kim said as he started to type in the needed commands.

Dhael swiveled towards the engineering station, “Sergeant Dorado, tell engineering to check to see if there has been any build-up in the nacelles that need to be purged before we get underway.”

“Aye commander,” the dusky skinned woman said with a prim nod.

Dhael and Baxter both checked their screens to where the coordinates they had been given led to. Finally Baxter made a tsking noise and shook his head, “Really nothing out there. That is one boring system alright.”

Dhael nodded, “I would speculate that is why the Wizard is there. The few terrestrial planets are all Class D or F. The gas giants don’t have anything in the way of exotic gases. Still, a good balance of raw materials but without a decent planet to colonize, it is unremarkable.”

“Commander?” ENS Kim asked.

“Yes ensign?” Dhael said without looking up from the reader. Why had the Wizard picked that system? As Baxter had said, it _**was**_ boring.

“Shouldn’t we have alerted the captain by now?” Kim asked.

Dhael swiveled her chair to face Kim, “And why would I do that? She is an experienced spacer and as such if she were awake, she would have felt the warp core come online. Since she hasn’t called us for an update, I am certain she is very much asleep.”

“But ma’am! This is important. Shouldn’t she be alerted at once?” Kim asked in a manner that Dhael found condescending from such a young officer.

“Ensign Kim, what is one of the unspoken mission of Gamma shift?” Dhael asked in a patient tone as if speaking with a child.

Kim blinked, “Ma’am?”

Dhael’s eyes bored into the young humans, “Come now Ensign, it wasn’t a difficult question.”

Kim’s eyes widened slightly at the rebuke in the Romulan’s tone. “I supposed it’s to allow down time for ship’s systems so they are not running all the time.”

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Dhael asked, her tone brisk. Beside her, Baxter was struggling not to smirk.

Kim straightened up, “Telling you ma’am! I’m not sure what you mean about an unspoken mission, though.”

Dhael smiled cruelly in the way that only a Romulan truly could pull off, “That is obvious Ensign. For the first part, let me ask you this, is the captain somehow not part of that ship system equation?”

Kim looked slightly confused which caused Dhael to scoff, “You have been on this ship now for three years and it hasn’t seemed to sink in that your captain is not a morning person? In the short time I’ve been aboard, I’ve noticed that it is wise not to come to her with anything short of an emergency prior to her finishing her first cup of coffee.”

“Two on bad days,” Dorado sotto voiced which cause a few on the bridge to hold in chuckles.

Dhael nodded at this even as she gave Chang a side-eye. Humans were notoriously lax in bridge discipline. “As Sergeant Dorado says, Captain Janeway is not at her best straight out of bed. Therefore, unless there is a pressing need, which this situation does not merit, there is no reason for us to wake her. And that, young Ensign is the unspoken mission of Gamma shift. To do little that would require waking up the senior staff. Our job is to be quiet and not rock the boat as you humans say.”

Kim looked unconvinced.

Dhael frowned at how obtuse the ensign was being. He obviously had been coddled too much, “Besides, what would tell her if we woke her? All we have is a set of coordinates and a quick review of our initial scans of the area. There is much we can do before the morning briefing. Right now, all you would do by waking her is to bring her here when we do not have answers to the questions she _will_ ask. This will _not_ please her. One does not enter a Le-Matya den for no reason. Better to let her sleep and work towards answering those questions so our shift-change briefing has all the information we can deliver.”

“But commander…” Kim started to say in a rather peevish tone.

“Enough Ensign!” Baxter barked out. “You have your orders in regard to the Level 3 diagnostics. If you feel that you absolutely have to go banging on the captain’s door, be my guest. I’m sure you’ll get a lot more familiar with Gamma shift if you do so.”

Kim gulped, “Yes sir!”

Both Dhael and Baxter swiveled back towards the main view screen. “Sorry about that, commander” Baxter said soft enough that only Dhael could hear it.

Dhael shook her head slightly, “It is nothing. I doubt it has anything to do with me being a Romulan. He is young. I’ve seen many eager ensigns in my day. I was one of them. They just need to be reminded what really constitutes an emergency and that the captain and senior staff are not machines and need their sleep as well.”

Baxter nodded at this, “Well I’m going to head down to Astrometrics and see what I can dig up. As you said, we need more info before the captain wakes up.”

Dhael said nothing except to give a slight gesture as if to say, “you may go” before returning to scroll through the data coming in from the science station. It **was** certainly looking like an incredibly boring system.

**OoOoO**

“Status?” Janeway asked.

SLT Mohindra turned, “Nothing as yet, Captain. Maybe he has the Equinox and Marianne under some form of cloak?”

Chakotay frowned at the info coming in on his own reader, “I doubt that. There are a lot of good reasons few races use cloaking technology. Even with Borg enhancements, it would take radical alterations to the ships.”

Commander Tahl, who was sitting in the counselor seat to the left of Janeway, nodded at this, “It would require stripping off and replacing most of the hull. That would take months of work.”

“Captain, I think I have something. The second gas giant in this system has a Class D moon which itself has a Class B planetoid orbiting it. There seems to be indication of mining on the moon,” Tuvok said from Tactical.

“Ensign Paris, set in a course to put us in an orbit in the La Grange point between the moon and planetoid,” Janeway ordered. “Full impulse.”

“Yes ma’am” Paris said. Voyager surged form the one-quarter impulse speed it had been cruising cautiously into the system under.

“I thought Harry said he’d leave the light on for us,” Chakotay quipped.

Janeway made a face, “Well if he’s trying to keep hidden, he’s done a particularly good job of it. The question is why? What could he possibly have done in the few days he’s been away? He’s said many times his magic is powerful but limited in scope.”

There was a pop of air and Harry Potter was suddenly there between Paris and Mohindra wearing an almost comical parody of a pirate suit. The bridges security dome above the captain’s chair immediately fired a phaser beam at the intruder which Harry negligently dispersed with a mere wave of his hand. He grinned sheepishly as he made another quick gesture towards the ceiling, “You think after my comments about your ship not doing certain things automatically that I’d remember popping up unannounced on the bridge isn’t a good thing.”

Harry smoothed out the tunic he was wearing and readjusted the plastic parrot on his shoulder before turning to Janeway and Chakotay, “Oh I guess I should ask about permission to come aboard and all that.”

Both the captain and XO rolled their eyes at this, “So ‘Pirate Potter’ we’re here. Are you going to give us a map with an X on it to find the ships you took?” Janeway asked in a dry voice.

Harry laughed, “No but I wish I had thought of that. That would have been a Weasley-worthy prank. Nope, just here to say that the mints are on the pillows. Head out towards my planetoid pit-stop.”

Beeps began to be heard from ops, tactical and the science stations. Tuvok spoke up first, “Captain, I’m reading what had appeared to be an impact crate at first seems to be a portal instead. It is retracting.”

“Rule one of camouflage; show them what they expect to see!” Harry quipped.

“What is a pit-stop?” Commander Tahl asked. Luckily for Paris, Tahl could not see the smirk this comment caused.

“It’s old Earth slang for a garage. The Equinox was in bad shape and it was obvious a lot of maintenance had been spotty on the Marianne. Since the Phoenix needed some time to complete absorbing those Hirogen ships, I figured it was time to bend the rules and take care of a lot of problems all at once,” Harry explained. Then he looked confused, “Where is Captain Ransom?”

“He is monitoring everything from the Auxiliary Bridge,” Chakotay replied.

“Really?” Harry said in a tone which implied surprise and a little disbelief. He looked at Commander Tahl for a moment before shaking his head, “Anyway...while I wish the accommodations where a bit more spiffy, but keeping things on the down and low was more important than trying to find a system with a Class M planet everyone in the area somehow was ignoring.”

“Captain?” Paris asked as Voyager reached the portal which revealed a tunnel into the planetoid itself. The tunnel was a simple one, hewed out from the rock but was lined with navigational beacons and lights.

Janeway made a gesture to the screen, “Mister Potter?”

Harry moved to clap Paris on the shoulder, “Sorry Tom, while I know you could park this like a champ, I think it’s better to go with your typical space dock protocols.” He then proceeded to make a sharp series of hisses to the surprise of everyone on the bridge.

“Navigational control is now being directed by Pit-Stop central,” the computer said. On the screen, it was obvious that Voyager was making its way into the tunnel at low impulse.

“Mister Potter, what was that?” Tuvok asked.

Harry turned to the Vulcan, “I just gave Voyager the command to accept the commands from the base computer to pull you in on auto-pilot.”

“While that is the logical answer to the observable facts, it is not the answer to the question I asked,” Tuvok said mildly. “Why did you use such a tonal password? It seems, as Seven of Nine might say, inefficient and easy to get wrong.”

Harry laughed, “Oh that wasn’t a password. I just told the computer what I wanted. I left some additions into Voyager that only I access. I’m fairly sure I’m the only one in the galaxy who can speak Parseltongue.”

Janeway and Chakotay traded looks before Janeway frowned, “While I should be relieved to hear you are the only one who can just take control of the ship, why didn’t the Universal Translator adapt what you said?”

Harry looked surprised for a moment before saying, “Probably because I’m betting the Translator only work’s on speech between sentients. I’m a Parselmouth. It means I can speak to snakes. My magic imbues them with enough consciousness to translate their animal thoughts into something more akin to being sentient. Your translator might have worked better if there was an actual snake on the bridge but I doubt it. Like I said, I doubt there is anyone else who could give such commands so I think it’s a pretty good fail-safe.”

“You can talk to snakes,” Chakotay said in a flat tone.

Harry nodded, “I knew a guy who spoke over 200 languages, most of them where magical creatures. Most had a language little different from just random animal noises to your normal human. Don’t think too hard on it. Logic and magic never were good with working well with the other.”

Before anyone could reply to that, gasps broke out among the crew who were looking at the screen. The tunnel had opened up into a huge subterranean cavern big enough to hold a major space dock or orbital research facility. But what drew the eye was the presence of what looked like a typical ship maintenance dock. Next to this dock was the USS Equinox and the Marianne, both with docking tunnels mated up with the ships that led to what looked like a set of buildings embedded into the wall of the cavern. The Phoenix, which had looked like a ship that had developed a bad skin condition of boils and welts, now was a triangular ship of sharp angles and had a uniform look to it.

“My god! How...how did you do this so fast?” Janeway said as rose to her feet, being followed by both Chakotay and Tahl.

“What did you do to the Equinox?” Chakotay asked, his voice filled with confusion.

Everyone could see the Nova class ship had somehow gone through a radical overhaul. It seemed longer, the nacelles larger and it was obvious the ship’s weapons array had been completely reworked and expanded on. Even the hull looked like it had been armored. Even at rest, the ship gave off an air of being a blade waiting to be pulled from its scabbard to wreak havoc.

The Marianne had undergone a similar transformation if more muted. It seemed, like the Equinox, to have gotten longer in the beam and had a similar (if lesser) amount of whatever the armored hull of the Equinox had. The Marianne and the Phoenix, both of which had been around 60 meters in length, now were closer to 80 meters. The Marianne looked more like an over-sided Federation mission scout than the Maquis raider it had been. The Phoenix, on the other hand, retained it's long, triangular shape. It had, however, had a ridge that started a quarter of the way from the pointed tip which got taller as it reached the end. Each ship had what looked like a version of the cradle Voyager had originally going to use to carry Harry's ship back when it was just the Wart.

“Like I said, I took the opportunity to bend the rules and ensure we didn’t have to abandon the Equinox and Marianne for not being able to keep up with Voyager,” Harry said. “Also, Tom had mentioned how there was a concern about baryon radiation build up. So after Voyager gets docked, the crew leaves and all the I’s are dotted and the T’s crossed, we can knock that out along with a decent over-haul. I figure it should give everyone a good two to three-week shore-leave.”

The bridge was silent as Voyager was guided into the space dock. No one spoke till the computer said, “Docking complete. Helm control relinquished back to Voyager control.”

Harry turned back towards the command staff who were looking a bit shell-shocked. “I took the liberty of having my people prepare a crew list to embark everyone in an orderly fashion. I think getting everyone off and settled will make it easier to just send back the essential people to prep the ship for the baryon sweep and further maintenance and what not you’d like to have done.”

Both Chakotay and Tahl still were taking in the view of the Equinox in the view-screen. Janeway shook her head as if to clear it, “Your people? Are you talking about the drones Seven brought with her? I thought you said it would take months before they could be released from the modified maturation chambers?”

Harry smiled, “Correct. But as I said, I decided it was time to make use of a loophole I learned about back when I was thirteen. Let’s just say I’ve had plenty of time to get things taken care of.

**OoOoO**

“So after me and my team leave, only the two teams under Lieutenants Mohindra and Thelan will be on board. Physical sciences says it should be about two hours to complete the move of all the ongoing experiments to the science labs. Medical is almost done moving tissue samples and the like and should be off the ship in under 30 minutes or so,” CMDR Braga reported.

“Thank you Brannon,” Janeway said. “What is your take on the crew and morale?”

The one-time chief of Physical Sciences turned Operations smiled and nodded toward Harry, “Mister Potter’s idea of what is spartan living is not how I’d put it. Everyone has their own room; the beds are a lot more comfortable and right now I think the pool party lagoon room is going to be where most of the crew will be staying off duty. I know I will. Swimming on the holodeck never feels right.”

Next to the Beta shift leader, SLT Baxter spoke up, “The food is going to be a lot better. The horticultural section on this base is superb. Neelix and his cooks are going to have a lot more to work with so we’ll all be well fed.”

Janeway nodded, “Good. Brannon, you’re in charge till we’re finished up here. Dismissed.”

With nods, both men left the conference room. Janeway turned her attention back to the matter at hand. Harry had magically expanded the table to allow for all involved to be seated. Voyager was represented by herself, Chakotay, Tuvok and B’Elanna. The Equinox by Captain Ransom and his XO while V’Lana and Riker were there to speak for the unaffiliated Maquis crew. This was rounded out by Commander Tahl, Sub-Commander Dhael, Ventrys, Seven of Nine and The Doctor. And of course, Harry Potter.

Janeway took a deep sip of her scalding hot coffee, “So...Mister Potter. Before we get down to important business, I think I speak for everyone here in wanting to know how you managed all of this?”

Harry smirked, “Like I said earlier, I used a loophole I learned about in my Third Year of my magical education at Hogwarts. Let me ask you this, what do you know about time travel.”

“That you are stupid to do it,” Thomas Riker said in a dry tone. “And it’s pretty much insanely illegal and almost all races have treaties outlawing it and work to police any tampering of the timeline.”

“And yet it happens all the time. V’Lana pointed out how her father managed to make it to the 20th Century of Earth on three separate occasions. Voyager managed it as well. The trick about time travel is to remember this one loophole,” Harry said.

“That being?” Ransom asked.

“Let me ask you this before I answer. The old question of if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to observe it, does it make a sound?” Harry asked. Before anyone could reply, “Well of course the answer is yes but my point is, how do you know what caused the fall? You didn’t see it so you infer it fell over due to age or maybe in a storm. But you really don’t know.” Harry explained.

Tuvok frowned, “I fail to see the logic in this analogy.”

Harry grinned, “That’s because Vulcans don’t cheat. So, back in my Third Year, my friend Hermione was given a time-tuner. It was a device where one could go back in time in a limited way. She used this insanely powerful device simply to take extra classes.”

The silence in the room was a sharp as broken glass. Finally Seven spoke up, “Your magical civilization had the ability to go back in time at will and it was used for...additional hours for education?”

Harry looked embarrassed, “I told you. Logic and magic don’t get along. So my friend Hermione was busy going back in time and jeopardizing the time-line every day for that school year. Toward the end of the year, like clock-work, there was a serious problem that needed to be fixed by me and my friends. During this one day, I got hit with a rock thrown through a window. This caused me to notice something important. When Hermione and I were about to be attacked by a werewolf, a howling in the distance distracted it to allow us to escape. When a horde of soul-sucking Dementors were about to...well you know suck out my soul and that of my godfather, before I passed out I saw a vision of my father saving me. Any guesses on what really happened?”

“Someone used this time-turner device to go back in time to change the time-line,” Janeway said.

Harry waggled his finger, “But see, that’s where you’re wrong. Hermione and I did use the time-turner but we didn’t change anything. I was the one who threw that rock. Hermione was the one who did the howling and it was I again, who cast the Patronus to ward of the Dementors. My past self thought he was seeing my father (who I look very much like) when he was only seeing me. Nothing was changed because of a stable time loop. And _**THAT**_ is how you cheat with time.

V’Lana leaned forward, “But how can you create a stable time loop when you didn’t live through it like you obviously did during this Third Year of yours?”

“Somewhat easily if you think fourth dimensionally,” Harry said with a lop-sided grin. “Like I said, the main thing is a Schrödinger’s Cat sort of thing. If no one is watching, then is the cat alive or dead? Same principle but the trick is finding out if anyone watching.”

“I’ll bite. How do you manage that?” Maxwell Burke asked.

“First you have to create a specialized probe that can go fast enough around a solar body to initiate a time warp. This probe carries various sensors that will monitor the entire system for every and all activity. The probe will deploy these sensors and wait. Say we want to go back 10 years. So you release the probe and have it go towards your target system. Once it goes into time-warp, you follow it and send out a signal to tap into the probes records,” Harry explained.

“But what if the probe records any activity during that time?” B’Elanna asked.

“You find yourself a new system,” Harry said. “I was lucky that didn’t happen. Or maybe it wasn’t luck as this is a boring system. Anyway, the key to the probe giving the all-clear is you have to specifically tell the probe to ignore any and all actions you are about to take. Because, like I said, if no one is watching, then anything can happen. But that watching has to include you yourself. Otherwise you get the old Heisenberg issue of the act of looking might affect the outcome.”

Ventrys made a small noise of understanding, “Ah...that’s very clever!”

“Care to enlighten us?” Commander Tahl said.

Ventrys bowed her head, “I believe I know how this worked. So Harry and the ships he stole enter this system, ask their probe if anything happened which could jeopardize the mission. When he gets the all-clear, he jumps back to a little bit after the initial probe exits the time warp. He then sets about creating everything we have seen.” She turned to Harry, “Am I correct?”

Harry nodded, “Partially. Like the special probe, to keep the likelihood of being discovered down, I sent a specialized shuttlecraft I modified from the Equinox to go back to after the probe like you said. This shuttle had specialized working robots on board. They had a simple mission, to mine the area for supplies through which they’d create more robots. Once there were enough robots, they would start to create means of production to create more specialized robots as well as everything that would make up the Pit-Stop base. It took years but once everything was completed, it would send a transmission to the probe. So after I sent the specialized shuttlecraft back in time, all I had to do was then ask the probe what year did it receive the go code? I then could jump back to that time to find a base fully constructed, filled with everything needed. It took seven years to build the base and the ships took another three to get completed.”

Janeway blinked in surprise, “You’ve been on your own for the last three years?”

Harry shook his head, “Oh no. I was in stasis most of the time. I think in real time I’ve only been gone from Voyager for maybe two months subjectively. The same with the former drones. We all came out together and have been working these last two months to ensure everything was on schedule and to tweak things a bit.”

“That is incredible,” Ransom said slowly.

Harry shook his head, “Yes but not really. The trick is to ensure that at any time, the forces you set in motion could still exist if something goes wrong. I’m not an expert in temporal mathematics but you have to wonder, when I initially got the all-clear signal, was I already at this base, watching on sensors? Or did that entire chain of events only truly take place until I brought the ships back in time?”

“Nevertheless, I would caution that in the future, this technique is used with great caution,” Tuvok said.

Harry nodded, “I agree. The other trick involved is to do things in such a way that nothing is changed. Again, no one had entered that system in the entire 10 years. So any time cops have little to charge us with given we didn’t really change anything. A stable loop means we were ‘meant’ to do what we did. It’s a fine line but I felt it was a risk I could take. Which is also why I left you folks behind. Fewer who knew what was going to happen made less temporal ‘noise’ as it were.”

Janeway ran a hand through her hair, “Well risk or not, it looks like our Wizard has indeed pulled a fantastic rabbit of a base out of his hat. We now have three ships, three crews along with a lot of former drones. As Mister Neelix has been good to remind us, we have a long star trek ahead of us. In the past I have unilaterally made the decision on how to proceed. That is not a viable option any longer. So, how will we move forward? What changes do must we make? What will be best for all the crews? Mister Potter has given us the perfect place to hide and sort these issues out.”

Captain Ransom looked at Chakotay who nodded, “Kathryn, I think I know the first thing which needs to happen.”

Janeway nodded, “Let’s hear it Rudy.”

Ransom took a deep breath, “Regardless of everything else, I’m stepping down as the captain of the Equinox.”

Shocked looks went around the room. Burke turned towards his captain looking almost betrayed, “What! Rudy! How can you say that! You kept us alive! You kept us going. We need you.”

Ransom shook his head, “That might be true Max but I’m not essential. No one is. Any one of us could be dead tomorrow in this death trap of a quadrant. Someone will always be there to step into the job and do the best they can. You certainly did when we lost Commander Collins. You grew into the role Max.”

“You said regardless of everything else. I take it you have a different position in mind?” Command Tahl said as the rest of the Starfleet people (and many of the former Starfleet Maquis members like Riker) still seemed shocked that Ransom would give up the captain’s chair.

“I do. Your Mister Neelix made an off-hand comment to Commander Chakotay. One the good commander thought about and brought to me. I’ve served in Starfleet for the last twenty-five years. I have done my time. Now I believe I can serve best in a civilian capacity,” Ransom said gravely as he turned towards Janeway. “We might not be a Galaxy class ship, but I want to resign my commission and take up the duties of Commissioner. That way we have an alternative command structure that focuses on non-ship issues. Not everyone in our fleet is Starfleet or wants to be in uniform. More importantly, if we’re going to start allowing children and the like, you and the other captains need to focus on your ships and not whether or not the education system is working properly or whether or not replicator rations are being horded.”

Janeway turned to Chakotay who nodded, “It’s the perfect solution, Captain. Starfleet already has all the rules and regulations for civilians on the larger ships. We just have to adapt them to our situation. Besides, it gives us another avenue for everyone to get a fair shot. You and I have worked hard to be fair but in truth, if there are people with complaints against us, who can they go to? Right now we’re the only authority figures. If Captain Ransom takes up the Commissioner job, he can act as a civilian oversight. That will go a long way to quieting long-standing issues the Maquis crew members have had.”

Janeway pondered this before nodding, “That is true even as much as I hate to admit it.” She turned back to Ransom. “So who takes over your ship?”

Ransom spread his hands akimbo, “I think that’s for this body to decide. Frankly, looking over the specs of what Mister Potter did to the Equinox, I would think Commander Tahl is the logical choice. Either that or Commander Chakotay or Riker given most of the crew will be Maquis.”

“What do you mean Rudy?” Burke asked, still obviously shaken.

Ransom smiled in a fatherly way, “How many times have I told you that skimming the briefing notes doesn’t cut it? The Wizard turned the Equinox into a warship. Most of the science equipment was used to upgrade the Phoenix and the Marianne. The rest will be transferred to Voyager to upgrade the few systems we had a better version of. Think Max; all our people were geared towards the science mission. They’re better off on Voyager. Besides, between the former drones and the Maquis, they are much better suited to handle the ship now that it’s almost a battle-cruiser.”

Ransom turned back to Janeway, “Plus I know quite a few of my crew will probably follow me into a civilian capacity. A lot of my crew were on their last tour. We all got way more than we bargained for. There is little for them to do on the other ships.”

Janeway bow her head slightly in acknowledgment, “I completely understand.” She turned to Commander Tahl, “What do you think, Commander?”

Tahl looked to Riker, “I know little about our Riker here but I know that William Riker is an able commander. Because of this I feel that shouldn’t Riker be a candidate for the Marianne? V’Lana has said she’s not Starfleet material. She would be the other candidate given I know Mr. Silvera has said he is tired of command.”

Riker cocked his head to the side and made a bit of a face, “I won’t say I haven’t wanted my own ship but I have been in prison for the last two years. I don’t know if I’m the right one for a command right now. Besides, if we want a Maquis commander, I say it should go to Chakotay. He’s proven himself to the Starfleet crew. Having a ship filled with Maquis that most of the Voyager don’t know might make them jumpy.”

Chakotay held up his hands, “I’m comfortable where I am right now.” He turned to V’Lana, “What’s your view on all of this.”

V’Lana leaned back into her chair and was silent for a moment, “I think it’s too early to tell who should go where. I think the crews need to have input who they will serve. We’re a long way from Starfleet so that sort of rank and file system can only take us so far. The crew need to want to obey those above them. Giving them input into it will go a long way to help that. Me? While I’ve commanded ships similar the Marianne before, I’d rather command one of the Delta Flyer type ships the Wizard created for the Equinox. We’re still going to have a lot of dangerous missions. Insertions, rescues and extractions. I’d rather head up a specialized team to do that then pull shifts in the captain’s chair.”

“I agree,” Sub-Commander Dhael said. “While the Rebel team in our latest combat sims have worked well together, it will be another thing to assume everyone will accept a ship as heavily armed as the Equinox is be crewed by Maquis members with many of the senior staff being enemies of the Federation.”

“Back at Hogwarts, we had a magical artifact that would sort you where it felt you would do best to learn. Since we don’t have anything like that, it looks to me that everyone needs to be told the options and instead of just goofing off in the holo-decks and the pools, that they also take the time to seriously think about how they want to spend their life for the foreseeable future. You guys have been running on inertia with little in the way of options. Well now you have options. Best to remind the crew that how things have been done won’t be the same as how they will be done now,” Harry pointed out.

Janeway nodded and rose, “I think we all need to sleep on this before coming back together. I also feel that as stated, the crew need to be appraised of this. They need to know their options. I am also confident our crews will surprise us with ideas we might not think of. Just now I was thinking how nice it would have been in many previous missions to have a special forces type away-team of the likes V’Lana mentioned. Perhaps as Captain Ransom said, while we might not be a Galaxy class ship, we need to start acting like one. Using that as a base, I think we and the crews can come to an end state everyone can be happy with.”

The meeting went on for another half an hour before things were settled enough to call it a day. Finally the room was empty except for Janeway who was finishing up her notes and Harry looking out the conference window towards the Marianne.

Janeway finished and got up to join him, “Should I ask what plans you have for Voyager?”

Harry turned with a smile, “Surprisingly few. I hope you realize that I didn’t magic up any of this. A lot of the changes to the Equinox was one part a standard way most races upgrade ships into a larger class. Add to this was a plan the Borg got a hold of when they assimilated some Federation ship. It was a prototype of how to convert Nova class ships into warships. A lot of the design was from those plans. The only real thing I contributed was the armor which is mostly taken from a Beta Quadrant race that did really well against the Borg for a long time before finally being assimilated.”

Janeway’s face brightened, “Ah! I thought it looked familiar. You used the Rhode Island plan. Right before we left Utopia Planitia, they brought in the USS Quasar which had taken severe damage in an ion storm. The ship was almost scrapped before they decided to go through with a major refit and be renamed her the Rhode Island.”

Harry nodded, “That’s the one. Likewise with the Marianne, it was just adding to the original length. For the most part that just takes the basic resources which I had plenty of. The Phoenix looks like it does because the Seron ship was already triangular so I went with a design from a famous movies series I grew up with.”

“I thought it looked vaguely familiar. You can’t get through Starfleet Academy without seeing all the historical fiction about space that survived,” Janeway pointed out.

“That doesn’t surprise me. The truth is, Kathy, you have a great ship and it mostly just needs the tweaks you already know you need given you got captured on your maiden voyage without even a shake-down cruise before that. Sure I’ve got an idea or two but most of those came from Tom. Right now I think who is flying the ships are more important than the ships themselves. I agree that the crew needs to be asked what they want to do. I think it’s important for all the leaders to remind them that there are options but that we all have a long journey ahead of us and I’m sure plenty of danger. But the Maquis are out of their war, the Equinox isn’t one warp core breach away from destruction and Voyager is no longer alone. I think the journey home is going to be a lot more enjoyable if I can use the term.”

Janeway thought about that before nodding, “They often say it’s the journey that is important. Still, the explorer in me is excited that we can afford to do more science and exploring and not be on the knife's edge of starvation and the like.”

“Or assimilation,” Harry quipped.

Janeway mock scowled, “Or that.”

She was silent for a long moment, “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said. I’ve thought about it a lot. In fact, I’m surprised I didn’t think of stepping down and becoming the Commissioner. But in thinking on it, I think that would be running away. You were right. I have been making too many decisions from a position of doing it simply because I’m the captain. I don’t have Starfleet or the Federation backing me up. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but I’m going to do better.”

Harry realized how much it must have taken for Janeway to get to the point to admit that. “Well I think having Ransom heading up a parallel structure will help. You’ve had to be captain, mum, queen and diplomat all rolled into one uniform. Too much responsibility makes it easy to just fall back on the default captain’s response. While protecting your crew is laudable, I think it too often made you take actions too quickly without thinking it through. That being said, you are literally just passing through. While not an excuse, I think it unfair not to admit that fact makes it easier to make certain decisions because you’re not around to see the results, good or bad.”

Janeway whispered, “I just want to get them home. I had to make a decision but my moral choice damned them to this exile.”

Harry laughed, “Oh Kathy, don’t be so grim. The Caretaker could easily have destroyed you and the Equinox when he found you didn’t have what he wanted. It may not be the cruise everyone expected but what are the alternatives? Chakotay and his people would likely be dead. You and your crew would be being doing dangerous scouting missions, dodging Jem’Hadar raiders and the like. In the grand scheme of things, one could argue that Voyager got the better deal.”

Janeway smiled at that, “I guess that’s one way to think of it. Maybe we can find some ancient weapon and somehow get back to the Alpha Quadrant in time to ride to the Federation’s rescue like one of Tom’s serials.”

Harry laughed, “That’s the spirit! Hey, before you hit the rack, I have a few things I’d like you to try. Think of it as an apology for pirating your ship.”

Janeway mocked scowled again, “It better be fantastic things.”

Harry grinned, “I have one word for you: cheesecake! And some fantastic booze to go with it”

Janeway’s face lit up, “Okay, perhaps I _might_ forgive you for taking my ship after all.”

Harry took Janeway’s arm and popped away leaving the question of how the future would go for the next day.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** :

This chapter took a long time to write. Then again, it’s hard to be creative when every night, the major city across the river having huge peace rallies only to be met with excessive force. It doesn’t help that Vancouver is home to a large group of Proud Boys who already have shown a history of going to peaceful rallies to instigate violence to de-legitimize the over-all protest. OTOH, I’ve had this time travel plan for Voyager going back to when Season 5 first came out.

 **Ranks** : While Dhael is a Sub-Commander in the Romulan navy, she is called Commander by Starfleet types because that is her equivalent rank. Commander Tahl’s rank is actually the equivalent of Captain but obviously in deference to Janeway and Ransom, he wouldn’t be called Captain Tahl unless he gets a ship again.

 **Phasers on the Bridge** : Sadly, this is NOT some invention of mine. In one of _The Original Series_ (TOS) we find that above the Captain’s chair is a security dome. In the TOS episode we find it’s where there are cameras that are basically a Black Box for the bridge. This allows Starfleet to see what was done during any incident if there has been a problem. In one of the animated episodes, we find there are also phasers there to protect the crew.

Why was this system never used again other than for cheap TV drama? How many beings kept just showing up on the Enterprise-D bridge? It happened ALL THE TIME. Worse is Worf rarely was able to hit someone with a phaser at a range under 3 meters! I’m a terrible shot (I have poor eyesight) but at least I can hit targets up to 250 meters regularly. For a supposedly Klingon warrior, his shot group sucked!

 **Dead Crusher & Cashiered Riker**: “ _There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of Humanity._ ” This is what Jake Sisko tells Nog about the Federation not using money. Okay, so supposedly people in the Federation work to better themselves. If this is true, then instead of competing to acquire wealth, people would compete to gain prime jobs or posts. Because that is an inevitable fact of the Federation’s lack of currency. To better oneself, you would want to get into a job or posting where you would maximize learning, making social contacts and giving you a better chance of getting into the next level to further that growth.

While ‘working to better ourselves’ sounds great, it also means there is some _serious_ competition going on and that would be a bad thing for cohesion. We even saw some of this in the TNG episode where Wesley Crusher’s flight crew tried to do this really dangerous maneuver to impress the Academy. Maybe why Kirk was always doing what he did...and it worked for him. But prime jobs and postings are a finite source which means that, in a way, the Federations non-currency system is just as bad as capitalism as it must constantly grow to keep up with demand. Worst, the system is at cross-purposes with its stated desire: to enhance the individual. How does this work?

Let’s take Riker first. Riker was given the option of taking command of the USS Ares but he turned it down to stay on the Enterprise-D (insert any reason why he did this but I can’t help think he was hoping to take over from Picard) The problem with that is there are two major reasons why Riker would have cashiered or transferred. First off, as I’ve already pointed out in this fic, to get to bigger ships, you have to command smaller ones to show you’ve got the Right Stuff®. By turning down this command, Riker effectively boots himself off the command track.

However, that is a standard military thing. My point is that the “no-money” system also creates an “up or out” requirement. Why? Well while Riker might like where he is, there are a LOT of people who have been busting their ass to prove they can be the next XO of the Enterprise. By hogging that spot, Riker may be “ _enhancing his potential_ ” but he’s selfishly denying others the chance to enhance theirs. Frankly, the system would actually end up being a quasi-Mirror Mirror universe system in that you only get to advance if a slot opens up. So either the system works to ensure movement or you’d get a lot of people sabotaging other to ensure they moved up. Since we’re supposed to believe the Federation is good, then we have to believe that to keep competition from getting nasty, then Riker would be forced to move up or get out. ( _BTW, this actually happens in the US National Guard system where you may be able to be promoted but unless there is a slot to promote into, you’re stuck. I saw a lot of this in my Guard time. So people “hogging slots” are not looked well on.)_

And that brings us to Wesley Crusher who would have been spaced by about Season 3. Why? Okay, imagine you’re an up and coming Starfleet officer. Let’s call you Snuffy for reasons that will become apparent. Now you grew up on a crappy colony planet and you wanted to get out into the universe to prove your more than some dirt-sider. So you ace your Starfleet exams and get to go to Star Fleet Academy where your top of your class. You bust your ass to ensure you are the ensign to be noticed. And you get noticed and you rise in the ranks. Finally you are given a dream of a posting, the flagship of the Federation! “ _Yes! I drive the Enterprise baby!_ ” you brag to the people who never left your home back on Boring Dirtlandia IV. So you’re happy right? You’re “ _enhancing your potential_ ” and life is good…

...till Captain Picard allows his UST with the Chief Medical Officer to cloud his judgement to the point of letting the teenage son of said CMO drive YOUR ship! Years of work and now there is a teenager in YOUR chair! Suddenly everyone is making fun of you. Suddenly all these important shifts and missions that you need to move up are being taken by a boy who can’t even change his sweater!

And then, one day, Snuffy earns his name. Wesley is in YOUR chair during a mission. Suddenly, for no reason (bathroom break?) Crusher has to go. So FINALLY you’re back in your chair during an important mission where the Enterprise encounters an alien called Nagilium who is so advanced it seems to lack a basic understand of life and death. Now this is more like it! Wait...what is that pain in my chest? OMG I’m wearing a red shirt…”

( _I’m not making the above up. Check out how in the TNG episode_ _ **Where Silence Has No Lease**_ _, Crusher disappears after a commercial break, Ensign “Redshirt” Haskell gets killed by the alien and then fade to commercial break. Guess who shows back up after the break! Crusher! Also, I remember thinking when I first saw this episode that not only was it obvious they swapped out Wesley, they did it with a black actor that show up only to be killed. Nice racial sensitivity there Hollywood!_ )

All humor aside, that Wesley Crusher was allowed to do what he did was a TERRIBLE example of nepotism on Picard’s part. None of the senior staff should have gone along with it and someone should have filed a complaint to the Inspector General. That being said, I can’t believe the various ensigns on the Enterprise didn’t conspire to have an “airlock” failure when Wesley happened to be walking by.

 **Star Fleet Battles Timeline** : The biggest change is in the original canon, Zephram Cochrane was from Alpha Centauri and humans first traveled there by sleeper ships. The next bit (a bit of fan-wank for the show and the game) is the concept of “tactical warp drive” which helped explain a plot hole in the series and explained a quirk of the game.

The issue is that in the show, most battles seem to be done in real space, outside of warp. The issue with that would be that any time you were in trouble, you could go to warp. Have some missiles (drones in SFB parlance) coming at you, warp away! So the initial warp drive could get you from planet to planet, but combat was done at sub-light speeds. Later, tactical warp drive was created so you could fight at warp which meant the need for phasers and warp capable torpedoes. Later, the use of dilithium crystals (first used outside a prototype on the NCC 1701 Enterprise) would allow for the warp field to go past Warp 3. This is what Scotty is talking about in _Balance of Terror_. It wasn’t that the old Romulan Warbird was sub-light (thus needing 50 years to just GET to the Neutral Zone, let alone cross it) but that it was still using old warp drive tech meaning it could, at best, go about at Warp 3.1.

It’s not a perfect fan-wank but it helps. So about the time humans get the initial “slow warp” drive, most of the other major races where developing it as well. It’s why the original 5-year mission was such a bit thing. Suddenly you had a ship that could go at Warp 6. It also showed (at least in the game) why there was so much fighting back then. All the races still had older ships they were desperately converting to the new tech (weapons and warp drive) and all were worried they’d be attacked by an enemy with more of the newer tech than they could defend against.

After the Organians stopped one war, they ‘disappeared’ for a bit and that led to the General War with the Federation & Gorns fighting the Klingons and Romulans. Likewise, the Klingons allied with the Lyrans who were fighting both the Kzin and the Hydrans. The Tholians were fending off the Klingons and Romulans but weren’t allied with anyone. While not allied, the Kzin and Federation at least ignored each other. Finally, the Organians showed back up and put a stop to the war given it had been a test to see what the ‘lesser races’ would do if left on their own. All of this would be long over by the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Also, while the Klingons and Romulans were allied against the Federation, they didn’t really like each other. So the later Klingon vs. Romulan fighting isn’t all that far-fetched.


	10. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given I don’t have to worry about a special effects budget, as with many versions of Star Trek, my Gorns have tails. Another thing is please ignore all the later bits with Klingons using cloaking devices. (Or calling their ships Birds of Prey or Warbirds) While I’m certain Klingons and the Federation have specialty scout ships which use Cloaking Devices, the cost is seen as too heavy for general use. This will be explained a bit in this chapter. Also, this is an exposition heavy chapter; you’ve been warned.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : _“_ _It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.”_ _Isaac_ **Asimov** – American writer and professor of bio-chemistry – 1920 to 1992

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 06-20-2020

_Captain’s Log, Star Date 51162.2; Final Entry. Today is my last day as captain of the USS Equinox. I am honored now as I was when I took command that Starfleet felt that, out of my peers, I was best suited to take up the role of captain of this fine ship. The Equinox did everything anyone could expect and so much more. Even when things were at its darkest, I felt that we, the organic crew, would fail before she would._

_I wonder if other captains talk to their ships? Do they complement it, beg it for more speed or to hold together when things get rough? Before the Caretaker, I always felt the Equinox was a middle-aged woman. The type you see in many science stations. A matron who is always there even as the ebb and flow of eager scientists came and went. She made sure they remembered to eat. To get enough sleep and to take time to come out of the lab. I was another in that line. She would take care of me as she would take care of the next captain just as she had taken care of the one before._

_In the last three years, that matron changed to a mother defending her cubs. She may not have been much in the way of claws, but she never backed down in the face of a threat to her cubs. It was that spirit, that soul which helped us all get through to our link-up with Voyager. I’ve been on postings where it was like the ship wasn’t invested in her crew. Ships that seemed to constantly be in need of repair and coddling. In a ship like that, I doubt we would have survived a week after our encounter with the Krowtonan Guard. She kept going after so many other ships would have fallen into scrap._

_Now she has been reborn. The science matron is gone and in its place is a warrior princess. One who, I am sure, will treat her new captain and crew with as much devotion that we were privileged to earn from her._

_There will be no speeches and no fanfare as I step down. All that must be said will be said when we all come together to decided where we all shall end up. For me, while I am giving up the captain’s chair, I go forward into a more challenging position of Commissioner to our impromptu fleet. I hope I can repay those who I lost by ensuring those that remained, along with our new shipmates, can live a fulfilling life even if we never live to see our children gaze upon the green fields of Earth once more._

**BRIDGE, USS EQUINOX, PIT STOP BASE, SECTOR 27, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51162.3**

Ransom looked at the bridge he’d spent so long in with mixed feelings. It was at once still the old bridge and yet in a very real way was now something completely different. It was as if the soul of the ship, the absent-minded scientist, had been replaced. No...not replaced. The old Equinox was still there. The fire and determination to get her crew home. It was more the soul of a battle-hardened veteran who had seen too much.

A small smirk broke out on his face. Was he thinking of his old ship or himself?

He looked at the other two men on the bridge. Commander Tahl, was slowly moving around the bridge, sometimes reaching out to run his hand over various chairs or consoles. Ransom felt that he should be wearing white gloves given the way he was testing the new bridge. Still, Ransom felt Tahl was somehow soaking up the pain, the misery as well as the old fire and determination as well.

As if reading his mind, Tahl looked up at Ransom, “She’s gone through so much.” The Romulan looked over to the other man on the bridge, “And if I read your legends correctly, one might say that this ship should be the one named the Phoenix. She has gone through fire and been reborn.”

Harry Potter shook his head, “While that’s very true, there is also a very important aspect to magic. Names matter. Like Voyager, the Equinox has written her name across the Delta Quadrant. I would not be so disrespectful to the memories of those lost by taking that name away.”

The Wizard came over to Ransom and handed him a small, flat box, “That being said, your ship has changed and so I felt a new chapter needed to be put into place.”

Ransom opened the box and his heart seemed to flutter. The bridge plaque, the unofficial birth certificate of the ship was encased in handsome frame of what looked like real oak. The wood frame itself had a little gold plaque which said, “Bowed but never Broken” with the dates of the cruise.

Ransom looked up at Harry who was watching him intently. Ransom made his way to where the plaque had been. A new plaque hung in its place. The metal was a more gold color and the Starfleet logo matched that of Voyager’s. However, he noticed that inside the main Starfleet symbol was a slender triangle. One taller than wide. It took a moment before recognized what that triangle represented. “Delta. How appropriate,” Ransom barely murmured.

“I’m glad you think so. Even if somehow we all get home a month from now, I think the Delta Quadrant has stamped it’s mark on the ship,” Harry said happily.

“And us as well,” Ransom said in a tired tone.

“You look tired, Commander. I realize you are talking up a huge and needed responsibility but I hope you take the time to rest before jumping into it,” Tahl said. His tone was in the manner of someone stating a fact. Not judging or pitying which Ransom appreciated. For all the weirdness of turning over a Starfleet ship to a Romulan, Ransom respected that Tahl was a professional.

“I will Tahl. The Wizard here even gave me a potion of Dreamless sleep so I can get a break from the nightmares,” Ransom replied.

“Well I wish I had the ingredients for the real Dreamless sleep potion. This is just the closest I could get by cheating with some interesting pharmacology I stole from the Borg. I agree though. Your new job does seem to be one where you’ll have to be out and about, meeting the crew, being there for them and the like. Sounds like it could be pretty exhausting,” Harry warned.

Ransom nodded, “Yes it will be. However, it’s funny how staring at your death and that of your crew opens up one’s eyes. I used to hate having to deal with personnel issues. It always felt to me like a failure of the staff if things got to me. Now? Now I realize how important those complaints are. They may seem minor or trivial but life is made up of such things. Given our situation, I think it has been too easy to push back on such things, to ignore them and even shame those with complaints citing our situation in the Delta Quadrant. We can’t live like that forever.”

Tahl nodded, “If there is one thing I learned moving up the ranks was that you can ask your crew to do amazing things but there were simple needs which needed to be addressed. I am glad that I did not have to be in your or Janeway’s shoes when your crew was cold and hungry. I was on one ship as an Uhlan once where we were deeply involved with support operations for a system hit with a natural disaster. The senior staff began to replace our rations from Command with sub-par food while selling what we should have been eating to the elites on the surface.”

The Wizard winced, “Yikes! That can’t have ended well.” Ransom nodded as well. If somehow his senior staff had been found hording replicator rations, the ship would have erupted in violent mutiny.

Tahl smiled in a rather evil sort of way, “It didn’t. It seemed they must have been skimming profits from selling items from our maintenance shipments. How else to explain the shoddy parts which caused an explosion that killed the entire staff as they met for a daily meeting?”

Harry whistled, “Saw a bit of that during the Eugenics War. Colonel Greene often used a combination of drugs and brainwashing to keep a lot of his troops in line. Sometimes his commanders forgot that even with that, you could only push your troops so far. I was once tasked to take out the sector command of a vital area only to get there and find the troops had already fragged them when it got out that they had done three consecutive missions without a break because their commander was trying to impress Greene.”

Harry turned to Ransom, “Oh, before I forget. You may have noticed that the command chairs are new. If you like, I have your old command chair in storage. I thought you might like to have it in your office or something. Unless you want to put it next to Janeway. I don’t know how often the Commissioner is on the bridge.”

Ransom chuckled, “No, the Voyager chairs are fine as they are. But yes, I would like to keep my old chair. We can discuss where to put it when we get with Janeway and the rest to determine where the civilian area will be housed.”

Harry turned to Tahl who had sat down in the command chair and was turning it towards the various station consoles. “Hey Tahl, you think there will be any problems with your crew? From the initial scuttlebutt it seems like you’re going to end up with the bulk of the non-humans. That and your human crew will be Maquis members.”

Tahl didn’t look up from the data-reader built into his chair, “I do not believe so. Given Starfleet’s human bias, most of the non-humans will be former drones like myself. As for the Maquis, they will learn that I do not abide politics on my ship. Our mission is to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, not reenact some inter-Federation squabble.”

Tahl looked up at Ransom, “That being said, I do find myself looking forward to helping with the mission Starfleet likes to promote. The Equinox may not be the science vessel she once was but she’s got so much more capability than a typical Warbird back home. I’m hoping I can entice Ventrys away from Voyager with the promise of science missions.”

Harry laughed at this and Ransom found himself chuckling, “Well if Voyager’s logs are anything to go by, we’ll have plenty of opportunity for combat science missions. Even more so when V’Lana gets her team together after the Earhart is up and running.”

“Ah yes. It will be interesting working with her. She and her mother are rather infamous back in the Empire. For all she’s considered a traitor, I have always respected Liviana. She never went back against her oaths as a Romulan commander. It is a sad state that our High Command’s paranoia sees her work with Ambassadors Sarek and then Spock as treason.”

Ransom frowned at that, “I’m surprised to hear you say that, Tahl. I realize the Romulans are not what you’d consider a warrior culture, but you certainly have aspects of it. To hear you promoting the peace process of Liviana and Ambassador Spock is surprising.”

Tahl shrugged, “The Empire’s warriors are being worn away and replaced with state security types. They see plots and treason behind every closed door. Worst, there has long been a faction in our culture which never forgets a perceived insult. They long to raise war to avenge past losses and ease the humiliation their own hubris bought our people. Do not get me wrong. I have dedicated my life to fighting the enemies of the Empire. Under different circumstances, I would have cheerfully destroyed this ship in service of my people. The problem is there is a different in fighting an enemy who cannot be dealt with in other ways. It is altogether different to fight an enemy you take on because of pride. As it stands, the Federation is a potential threat but only if we provoke it. Too many of the new breed of commanders want to do exactly that. I do not want to lose my life or that of my crew in a war we didn’t need to fight.”

“I am sort of surprised then that they haven’t attacked the Federation while they are under attack from these Dominion chaps from the Gamma Quadrant,” Harry pointed out.

Tahl laughed, “Oh no! You see that’s the irony of jailing or forcing retirement onto commanders who think like myself. Those that remain aren’t comfortable fighting unless the odds are in their favor. No. They shall wait till the Federation and the Klingons are blooded in the war with the Dominion. Of course they don’t realize that by waiting, they will be facing an enemy fresh from fighting in a war. There is only so much you can do via simulation. Fighting such veterans will come as a nasty shock to them if war comes.”

“Hopefully, that won’t happen. The repercussions of interstellar war last a long time. I’d hate for us to get back to a ruin of what we left,” Ransom said with a sigh.

Tahl shrugged, “Well if we get back, our fleet will have weathered the dangers and have become good at being a generational fleet. We do not have to stop simply because we get home.”

**XxXxX**

**LAGOON ROOM , PIT STOP BASE, SECTOR 27, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51162.5**

“Commander, may I sit with you?”

Tuvok looked up to see Senior Lieutenant T’Pev looking down at him. It was a testament to how deep in thought he had been that he had not sensed her approach. He gestured to the open reclining beach chair next to him, “Of course, Lieutenant. Forgive me for not greeting you earlier. I have much on my mind.”

T’Pev sat and cast a look at him with a slightly raised eyebrow, “While not having much on the body, it seems.” The other Vulcan was only clad in small swimming trunks and a colorful, short-sleeved shirt which was opened to show most of the man’s chest.

Tuvok frowned slightly, “Early on when we were first cast into the Delta Quadrant, it was felt important to have social events to help merge Maquis and Starfleet crews. The pool party was a popular version of those events. So much so I felt it better to replicate this ‘Hawaiian’ shirt and swimming gear. While the social aspect could be trying, the general temperature was more agreeable.”

“Ah, yes,” T’Pev said as she watched the combined crews engaging in various games, swimming in the fake lagoon, sunbathing or lounging in the various hot pools or raised tubs. “The last year on the Equinox was extremely uncomfortable for me as we had serious power issues. Thus my room was cold enough to barely be tolerated by a human. For me, it was a trial I do not wish to endure again.”

“I sympathize. There was a time when I served on the Excelsior when I was bunked in a room where the temperature was kept in line with human comfort. Worse, my companions were all from cold worlds and kept turning the temperature down. It was a daily test on one’s logic not to give in and react emotionally to it. Fortuitously, the next duty rotation brought two Tellerites and a Capellan onboard who were more than happy to bunk with a fellow hot-worlder,” Tuvok said as he watched Ro Lauren begin a little victory dance as the all-female volley-ball team scored on the all-male team led by her lover, Thomas Riker.

“For you, an adept of the Kolinahr, to admit it to be so trying speaks volumes,” T’Pev said quietly.

The two Vulcans continued to people watch in silence for another five minutes or so before Tuvok spoke, “I doubt you came here simply to engage in social observance. Especially given you are an engineer and not in operations.”

“You are very perceptive. Can we speak freely, without rank, Commander?” T’Pev asked.

Tuvok straightened up in his recliner a bit, “If you wish.”

T’Pev gestured to the windows that lined an entire wall of the lagoon park. Of course they really weren’t windows but giant view screens which were projecting an image of the interior of the cavern that was the Pit Stop. The current view showed Voyager undergoing the initial parts of the baryon sweep. The Equinox could barely be seen on the other side of the ship. “This wizard Harry Potter has changed everything. The odds of our survival have increased dramatically. On the Equinox, the feeling was to go as far as we could before we had to stop. It was illogical but it kept the crew going. Now linked up with Voyager and with the upgrades to all of the ships, I believe there is a chance that this rag-tag fugitive fleet on its lonely quest may make it back home.”

“A colorful summation, but an accurate one, I believe,” Tuvok agreed.

T’Pev was silent for a moment before continuing, “However, as Vulcans we know not to let our emotions cloud our judgement. While the humans continue to hold out for wormhole or some technology to be found that can get us home faster, the odds are that we shall not make contact with the Federation for 50 years at the earliest. Even then, this contact would be with deep-space probes and not the actual borders unless the Federation expands much faster than historical norms.”

“Again, an accurate summation of our situation,” Tuvok said. He too had seen how his human shipmates still clung to what Harry Potter had dubbed ‘magical thinking’ where somehow, there would be a fairy tale ending to their journey. That an actual wizard felt the odds were towards the long journey was telling.

“Therefore we must begin to prepare for this long journey. I have reviewed Voyagers records and have concluded that the chance that you will enter into Pon Farr within two years is likely if not certain. Unlike Lieutenant Sohn, I am married. That I have not been under your command structure is also an important fact. Therefore, I wish to enter into a consort agreement with you. It is illogical to wait given if we are incompatible, it leaves you time to enter into a similar agreement with Lieutenant Sohn or perhaps the Maquis Sakonna,” T’Pev explained.

Tuvok wasn’t shocked. It took a great deal for a Vulcan to become so. However, Tuvok found himself surprised that this issue had come up so quickly. Ever since Mr. Neelix had brought up the fact that Voyager had to adapt to a potential six-decade trip, he had occasionally thought about how he would deal with his next Pon Farr. Even though he was older and married, his body would naturally react to the absence of his mate. As T’Pev had said, the odds of him going into Pon Farr were getting better by the day. Worst, his Pon Farr would burn so much brighter than Ensign Vorik’s would. This, of course, brought up an important point.

“While in theory, I agree with your logic, for the overall benefit to the crew, I must ask why you choose me over Ensign Vorik. Given Vorik chose to bond with Commander Torres rather than Lieutenant Sohn as one might expect, it might be better for you to join with him and I with Lieutenant Sohn,” Tuvok said carefully. He didn’t include Sakonna as a potential given he knew the former Maquis saw him being an agent of the Federation as a treason versus logic. Many Vulcans felt that even though the logic of needing espionage agents, the inherent dishonesty of it was antithetical to being a modern Vulcan. She would never accept him as a consort.

T’Pev shook her head, “I have already discussed this with Sohn. She feels that the proximity to Commander Torres was the key to his Pon Farr. Also, at that time, she did not feel Vorik was seasoned enough to be a potential mate. Sohn feels that now she is much more willing to enter into a relationship with Vorik in the future given his next Pon Farr will be a little over 5 years from now.”

Tuvok nodded, “Ensign Vorik has matured a great deal in a short amount of time. His Pon Farr experience did force him to do some in-depth evaluations of himself. I concur that by his next Pon Farr, he would be much more suited to a Vulcan of Sohn’s caliber.”

“Then do we have an agreement?” T’Pev asked.

Tuvok was silent for a moment before shaking his head, “Before we can enter into such an agreement, I must warn you that for all my passage through the Kolinahr, I have been...tainted in the past.”

T’Pev eye’s narrowed, “You are referring to the incident with the Betazoid Suder?”

Tuvok nodded, “While I have dealt with that incident as much as I can, I find myself still acting more emotionally than a Vulcan should.”

While it took a lot to shock a Vulcan, they could be surprised a lot more easily. And this is exactly what happened to Tuvok when T’Pev actually chuckled! “You home-worlders! Not only so uptight but you continue to ignore what has been going on elsewhere in the old Vulcan Confederacy. The movement to bring Vulcan and Romulans back together is a two-way street, Tuvok. There are many Vulcans more willing to allow themselves to express their feelings more like our Romulan cousins. Indeed, my own father was a Romulan defector. Although defector is not quite the word given he was more a refugee.”

Tuvok eye’s narrowed, “Am I correct in theorizing your father was aboard the freighter Septimex? The Excelsior was initially in route to rescue the ship before USS Simón Bolívar made that unnecessary.”

T’Pev nodded, “He was. He ended up asking for asylum due to feeling betrayed by the Romulan high command and their delay in repatriating the Septimex crew. He has told me many times that while those on Vulcan cling to a severe state of emotional being, the Romulans on Romulus grow more paranoid even as the rest of the Empire is more open to peace. My father didn’t want to leave the Empire; he felt the Empire left him.”

Tuvok thought about that for a moment, “That does seem to the pattern in what Ambassador Spock wrote about during the latter half of his life. I take it from your comments that my apparent overly emotional state would not be a hindrance?”

T’Pev shook her head with the tiniest smirk on her face, “I am counting on it. Due to my upbringing, I am far more inclined to enjoy a more physical relationship. I am hoping that your Kolinahr training will allow you to let yourself give into some of what this Suder left in you. As I said, off Vulcan there is more of a feeling that indulging in passion and the like is healthy. There is a time for logic but we should not let be ourselves become slaves to a cold, sterile perception of that logic.”

Tuvok’s own eyebrow went up in pleasant surprise, “A surprising insightful understanding of the true meaning of the Kolinahr. Indeed if more Vulcans understood what the true meaning of the Kolinahr ritual was, then perhaps there would be less ‘up-tight’ Vulcans.”

T’Pev inclined her head at the praise, “I feel that you and I have something in common. We both tone down what we could express as our mates do not have the same conditioning as we.”

Tuvok stiffened slightly at this. T’Pev was a perceptive in the extreme, “I believe you may be correct.”

T’Pev smiled in the way Vulcans usually did when forced to by protocol. In her case, however, it seemed to indicate genuine warmth. “Then I believe we should become consorts. We honor our spouses as proper but it would be illogical not to take this opportunity to explore aspects of ourselves we have not been able to fully express. It could be quite _educational_.”

Tuvok almost sighed. It was obvious that T’Pev had been around humans long enough to begin using innuendos like one. Sadly, as she said, they were more alike than not given he continued to catch himself doing the same. That and all logic aside, T’Pev had an edge to her. No doubt from her Romulan father that Tuvok found appealing. It made him feel a ghost of the passion and desire to take risks he had not felt since before taking up the Kolinahr ritual. Still, logic made him assess the risks versus the benefits. In the end, T’Pev was right. It could be very... _educational_.

“I accept,” Tuvok said simply.

**OoOoO**

Maria Gilmore sipped the fruity cocktail. The unfamiliar burn of real alcohol was hot in her throat which left a warm buzz that went well with the warmth and smell of the ocean. Of course she knew that the smell was as artificial as was the sunlight. Yet it was easy to let the simulation suck one in and make one believe they were on a beach. Even if that beach came with a window looking into the shipyard.

Reclining on one of the many beach chairs was her friend Dorothy Chang from the Equinox along with the Vulcan Sakonna who had been one of the Maquis prisoners saved from the Federation and Tridiva Mohindra from Voyager.

The quartet were housed close to each other. Maria and Dorothy sharing a bathroom linking their individual rooms while Sakonna and Tridiva had the same across the hall. The four women had begun to hang out together while all the ships were being worked on. It would be at least another two to three weeks before they could get underway. However, it was looking like they’d stay longer to allow for more in-depth modifications to be made to Voyager before they resumed their course back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Of course before that could happen, the decisions of who ended up where needed to be addressed. It was a topic on everyone’s mind.

After being always cold and usually on three-fourths rations for over a year, the Pit Stop was heaven to Maria and the rest of the Equinox crew. The new Maquis seemed to be adjusting well. Certainly being stranded in the Delta Quadrant had been a shock but being safe from the horrors of war raging back in the Alpha Quadrant gave them a seeming new lease on life. Even the Voyager crew was wallowing in the down time. While many of the former drones sill had their issues, even they were soaking up the warmth and comfort the Pit Stop had to offer. Even if Harry Potter had said not one spell of magic had been responsible, the Pit Stop was truly magical for all of the crew.

“So Maria, any chance you can settle a bet?” Tridiva said, breaking the easy silence.

“Depends on what the bet is?” Maria said cautiously. She had a bad feeling she knew what the bet would be about.

“Can Tom Paris back up his words with action?” Tridiva said with a grin.

Maria said nothing but merely blushed.

Dorothy looked at her with a bit of shock, “Have you been sleeping with Tom? Why you little minx! Didn’t let the grass grow for long did you?”

Maria scowled, “It’s not like that and no, we haven’t had sex...well we haven’t gone too far. Every seems to think Tom is a...a...I don’t know what you can call it. Why does it matter if we are or aren’t?”

Sakonna set down her drink with a frown, “I must concur. You humans continue to be a bag of contradictions! Both Maria and Tom Paris are full adults with no contractual ties. Why does it matter if Mr. Paris has had many consensual encounters with other such females? You preach your morals throughout the Federation and yet such a simple biological act causes you so much social strife.”

“Says the race that has sex every seven years,” Chang said waspishly.

Sakonna’s frown deepened, “You are proving my point. You seem to think we Vulcans only have sex during Pon Farr. That is not correct. We only _**mate**_ during Pon Farr. We engage in sexual activity as it suits us. It is illogical only to allow one’s physical needs outweigh your judgement. We Vulcans ‘get busy’ as you humans so inelegantly put it quite often.”

“Hey! I was just wondering if Tom can back up his bragging. He likes to come across as some sort of an answer to any woman’s dream. I was just wondering if his walk matches his talk.” Tridiva pointed out.

Maria looked away, “Actually Tom has been quite the gentleman. Moreover, I think he’s surprised at how much he likes being the gentleman instead of this…Lothario people seem to feel he is.”

“To be fair, you haven’t been on board with him for the last three years. That being said, I’m actually not surprised by what you said. I’ve always felt Tom’s bad-boy attitude was a front. I mean his dad is a frakking Admiral with all the pressures that must have entailed on the family life,” Tridiva said easily.

Maria blushed again, “Well I can say that Tom does seem to do well enough in bed.”

“How would you know? You said you haven’t gone that far,” Dorothy asked.

Maria blushed deepened, “We haven’t but that doesn’t mean I haven’t watched him in action.”

The other two humans wolf-whistled and even Sakonna raised an eye-brow, “Fascinating. I find it interesting that he continues to rebel against his captain.” It was obvious that the three other women guessed it was Treana the Orion who Maria had watched with Paris.

Tridiva frowned, “I’m not. Look, Captain Janeway and Chakotay have been great under the circumstances but still, it’s been very difficult at times. What happened to Tom has happened too often for my tastes. There have been plenty of times where we Starfleet types get gigged while the Maquis crew got off or got lesser punishments. Sure, I understand the reasoning. A lot of the Maquis were never Starfleet to begin with and there still is some simmering tension. But still, that doesn’t make it any better when you get a month of replicator rations taken away while a similar offense by a Maquis member got them a few extra shifts. A lot of us are sick of it. Plus, I have friends who work in the lower decks who’ve said that they haven’t seen Janeway in their area in months if not a year. Worse is she continues to send a select group of people on away missions. If we were to get back to the Alpha Quadrant tomorrow, a lot of us might be asked why we didn’t participate in missions. If she is going to keep to Starfleet regulations, she needs to keep them all. It’s been 18 months since I’ve left the ship on an away mission and I’m one of the most senior science officers on the ship! Wunderkind Kim gets picked to do a lot of missions that an engineering officer should have gone in his place. But no, her little pet project gets picked to do all sorts of things. Talk to any of the engineering staff and they’ll tell you how often he’s been put into one of their slots on away missions.”

Maria and Dorothy looked at each other in surprise. Finally Dorothy said, “Wow. Here we thought it was mostly smooth sailing for you Voyager types. I didn’t expect to hear you had such problems.”

Tridiva laughed mirthlessly, “Oh we had our days when we were cold and hungry. We managed better because we’ve got a bigger ship with nastier weapons. Still, the problem is we can go weeks where we’re not going to red alert. Oh sure, it’s easy to remember all the bad times but there are days when it’s easy to forget we’re not on some deep-space exploration cruise. That’s what causes a lot of the friction. We are kept to an uneven system. The senior staff make decisions one way because we’re in the Delta Quadrant but then don’t act like they should when things are calm and there is nothing keeping us from doing it the right way.”

Sakonna nodded, “I believe this explains the draw of leaving Starfleet for many of the crew.”

Tridiva took a big swig from her drink before nodding and gesturing with her drink toward the Vulcan, “Exactly! If work and discipline is going to be uneven, why bother to stay in uniform? It’s a sad state that I could take off my rank and go back to just doing science and I’d be treated better for it. How wrong is that?”

Maria chuckled, “I don’t think a Maquis member is the right person to be asking that question even if she’s a Vulcan.”

“True,” Sakonna said. “I reject the logic of many of my fellow Vulcans who believe it is better to work within the Starfleet system. Too long have we Vulcans remained in the background and abrogated our authority as a senior member of the Federation to you Terrans. At least more and more humans are seeing that Starfleet is not synonymous with the Federation.”

Dorothy looked confused, “What do you mean, Sakonna?”

Sakonna gestured to encompass the entire lagoon, “What do you see? Humans everywhere! Why? Because Starfleet is mostly made up of humans. Whether it is because you breed so fast, like the danger or whatever, the point is Starfleet is almost a Terran endeavor. Given the Vulcans, Andorians and Orions all had our own republics prior to the formation of the Federation, why is it that Starfleet ended up based on Earth and most of its members being humans? Why did we give up our own ships to replace them with one’s designed and suited to humans?”

The three humans looked at each other in surprise and confusion. Finally Tridiva spoke up, “I was always told that most of the other member races felt they had done their time and thought it best that we humans get a taste of what it is to be a star-spanning civilization. Well that and a good chunk of the old Orion fleet mutinied to form the basis of the Orion pirate clans.”

Sarkonna’s look made all three women realize that if the Maquis had been human, she would have laughed in their faces. “Yes that is their story isn’t it. Almost all Starfleet ships are 80% Terran yet you humans only make up about 45% of the Federation. Ever wonder why? Or did you just ignore the bias back in San Francisco?”

Again the three woman looked at each other. Sakonna nodded, “Or you just never thought anything was odd about it like most. There was a time when the Federation had more of a Vulcan face to it. Were we not the ones to help mentor you humans when you finally blundered into the warp lanes? Where we not the ones who brokered the peace where the Andorians finally turned away from their warrior ways? But we stepped away too soon. Now humans have almost a complete lock on the military and few in the Federation seem willing to do anything about it. Worst is we Vulcans cannot even pull our collective heads out of the libraries on Vulcan to see the progress made in regard to our cousins the Romulans. For all the good work of Ambassadors Sarek and Spock, the Vulcan High Council has washed their hands of actually running the Federation.”

A silence fell over the group before Dorothy shook her head with a bemused look on her face, “Well I guess that answered my question of why a Vulcan of all people ended up in the Maquis.”

Sakonna snorted, “You humans must stop putting we Vulcans on pedestals. Yes we are an older and wiser race and our dedication to logic gives us an edge. However, we are still mortal beings prone to mistakes. We merely make them less frequently than younger races like you humans.”

Another silence fell as the group watched the female volleyball team celebrate their win against the males. Finally Tridiva turned to the other humans, “So have you thought about what you want to do? I’m still torn between resigning or not. I do know that I want to start a family.”

Dorothy shrugged, “I’ll stick with Starfleet for now but I’m definitely switching over to Voyager. Most of us on the Equinox just have too many bad memories associated with the ship. Even with it being upgraded, it’s just too much.”

Maria sighed, “I’m going to resign. Starfleet isn’t what I thought I wanted. Don’t get me wrong, I still love to get my hands dirty in engineering. It’s just not worth all the other stuff that comes with it. I also want to start a family if Tom will have me.”

Sakonna raised an eyebrow at that, “This Paris does not seem to be the type to settle down.”

Maria smiled, “You’d think that with all the stories. I think Tom didn’t feel he could do it either. Still, he’s had a lot of time to think on things. The Wizard has been a good friend to him and I think gave him some valuable insights. I think he’s ready to try a different role.”

“What about Treana?” Dorothy asked quietly.

Maria blushed, “She’s fine with the idea. She feels pairing up with Tom and I is a deal where she gets the better part of the bargain. What about you Sakonna?”

“I will stay with the Marianne. I believe Riker will be given command and I feel he will need a good second. I believe I am the one for that position. I will admit the crisis team that V’Lana is putting together is intriguing but logically, for the greater mission, it would be best that I serve on the Marianne,” the Vulcan explained

Tridiva frowned, “I wish Chakotay would take command of the Marianne. Nothing against Riker, but I think there is less of a reason for Chakotay to be the XO as a balance of Starfleet and Maquis crews. If anything, I would think having Riker be the new XO would allow him to get back into the groove of things instead of putting him in command after being in prison.”

Maria giggled, “I don’t think Chakotay’s desire to stay on as XO has anything to do with his fitness for command.”

“What do you mean?” Tridiva asked.

Dorothy gave a long-suffering sigh, “Maybe because you’ve been around them for so long you don’t really see it. But take it from the rest of us, it’s obvious that Chakotay is staying on because he’d like to be a bit more adventurous in Janeway’s ready room.”

Tridiva’s eyes went wide and she turned to Sakonna, “Do you think that as well?”

Sakonna shrugged, “It does seem the most logical reason. If one is watching for it, you can see how Chakotay physically reacts around her. How his eyes linger on her. As a Maquis operative, I often used such unspoken relationships to achieve our mission goals. The Commander’s emotional attachment to Janeway can easily cloud his judgement.”

Tridiva frowned, “I don’t know...he’s often at serious loggerheads with her.”

Maria laughed, “Yes but how often does he win?”

Tridiva made a face and shrugged, “I’m not saying you’re wrong. It’s just sometimes I wonder if Chakotay wasn’t some sort of deep Starfleet plant all along. He certainly jumped back into the role easily enough.”

“That does not surprise me. Former Starfleet Maquis often were paired up with others like them given they responded to that type of discipline better. Which was a fortunate thing for Voyager. If you had gotten a typical Maquis crew, it would have been far more difficult to integrate the crews,” Sakonna explained.

“Still, wouldn’t it be easier for Chakotay to pursue a relationship between captains than in a Captain and her XO type relationship? Sure we want to relax some of the rules but that’s textbook fraternization. I doubt either of them would resign to continue the relationship,” Maria asked.

Tridiva snorted, “As I said, both Chakotay and Janeway have a long history of enforcing the rules that make it easier on them. I’m sure Chakotay will think no one will bat an eye.”

Sakonna took a long drink before shaking her head. “Perhaps I might have to reexamine the dynamics of who should captain the Marianne. Perhaps it would be better for all involved if Chakotay and Riker switched places. His familiarity with Commander Tuvok is a positive reason for working under him.”

Maria looked over to where Riker and Lauren were walking hand-in-hand over to the dining area, “I wonder what he wants in all of this?”

**OoOoO**

Jondra Hommein took a deep breath to calm herself, stopping far enough from the door in front of her to keep from triggering it. As a former Angosian super-soldier, her senses were extremely acute and the shore leave had been a riotous assault on her senses. It was one of the reasons she mostly worked Gamma shift and had taken up a position in Life Sciences. While she was often on the bridge, Jondra primarily stayed in Hydroponics where it was quiet. While Chakotay and a few other former Maquis knew her history, most felt she was a normal Terran. Of course few ever saw her in action. It was a side of her that she hated even as she often longed to unleash. Better for all that she stayed tending plants most days. However, the invitation she had grudgingly accepted filled her with dread almost as much as secret anticipation.

She finally stepped forward causing the door to open into what appeared to be a standard conference type room. It held little else but a large table, chairs, a view-screen on one wall facing bay windows looking out into the Pit Stop cavern. A small table to one side held refreshments along with a small refrigerator and a replicator.

Her knife hand twitched as she eyed those already sitting at the table. It was an interesting assortment. Especially the only one standing.

The woman at the head of the table rose, “Thank you for coming Jondra. Now that you’re here we can get started. Please, help yourself before we go on,” V’Lana said with a gesture towards the smaller table.

Jondra nodded without speaking. Her eyes still roving over the others in the room. Most had given her a quick once over and went back to talking among themselves. Except for Tom Paris, she had only a passing acquaintance to the rest of them. She gathered up her food and some hot coffee and sat down next to Paris. They had done a quite a few shifts together, generally when Tom was in trouble for something and banished to Gamma shift.

Jondra took notice that even though V’Lana had said she was the last to arrive, the woman seemed to still be waiting for someone. With a pop of air displacement, the Wizard Harry Potter appeared in the odd blurry way of his apparition. He oriented on V’Lana and walked over a data-pad which he handed to her before sitting down next to her. The woman scanned it briefly before smiling slightly.

V’Lana rose again and looked a Jondra, “Jondra, while we did some introductions earlier, before we begin, I would like to introduce everyone again.”

She gestured to the huge Gorn who was standing by the bay windows. Beyond the fact he was a reptilian sentient with a long tail, the Gorn stood out as the one former drone who had the most Borg hardware still visible. One entire forearm was still a prosthetic even though it had been adapted to look like the other arm. “This is Uriash. He was part of a deep space unit probing the outer limits of Romulan space when he was captured by the Borg.”

Uriash nodded hiss out something which the Universal Translator didn’t bother with translating.

“Then we have Zorn pe’Wut, also a former drone. A smuggler in the outer edge of the Alpha Quadrant,” V’Lana said gesturing to the bulky Tellerite who nodded towards Jondra.

“Next to him is Pav Fornax who did similar activities to raise money for the Maquis,” V’Lana explained. The tall, but well-built Orion smiled in the alarming way of their people. One that made you check to see if you still had your wallet.

“Then we have Warg and Tamal,” V’Lana said. “Warg was assimilated back when the Klingons were still at war with the Federation. Tamal, on the other hand, is a former crew-member of mine who should never have left to join the Maquis.”

The Klingon laughed as the Capellan (who almost rivaled the Gorn in size) frowned, “I said I was wrong. No need to continue rubbing salt into my wounds.”

“You know Tom Paris which leaves us with Chief Damir Tsmirci of the Equinox,” V’Lana finished up. While the Troyan had a haughty look to him, he bowed from the waist in greeting.

“So let’s bring up the star of the meeting, the Earhart!” V’Lana said as she touched a button on the data-pad that the Wizard had given her. A hologram of the ship appeared over the table. Tom immediately recognized the basic design as being a Federation Venture class “mission” scout ship. The Earhart, however, was much larger, however. Larger, in fact, to that of the new Delta Flyer design.

“So here is the ship which is almost ready for us if you’re willing to join my team,” V’Lana explained. “I’m not going to go over too much of the detail as a good commander knows never read out the briefing. I’ve already transferred the info to your personal PADDs.”

“What is the mission exactly? And why all of us?” Jondra asked even though she had a good idea of the answer.

“The Earhart is being kitted out to be a specialized, multi-purpose vessel. It’s modular and so we can swap out as needed for each mission,” Harry said with a gesture towards the back of the ship.

V’Lana nodded at this, “In answer to your question, the mission is whatever the fleet needs it to be. Whether it’s rescue of an away team, spying on a potential threat, close-in-and-personal observation of alien tech to snatch-and-grab missions. Whatever is too dangerous for a regular away mission, the team will be there to pick up the slack. It’s why I’ve asked you all to be here. You are all what I would like to consider my primary team.”

“Primary team? There will be others?” Uriash rumbled.

V’Lana nodded again, “It will depend. I’ve chosen you all because I think you all have the talent and skills that would be needed for most missions I can foresee. However, I do have a few specialists in mind who might be part of a team if necessary. I think it obvious that Midshipden Moleg could be useful planet-side if we need to do any sort of digging.”

This was met with quite a few chuckles. The cheery Horta had surprised even Harry Potter by finding veins of various precious ores that the geological scanners had missed over the years the base was being built. Of course to a Horta, finding such minerals was akin to a fox sniffing out for hidden burrows for their next meal.

“However, the rest of you were chosen because except for Tom here, all of you have combat backgrounds or at least come from martial races.” She turned the Troyan Damir, “For example I know you’ve never been in an actual military type unit, you’re a ranked member of the Da’Sini Dueling association. I’ve seen the video of the tournaments on Troya; they’re impressive.”

The Troyan once again bowed from the waist at the praise.

“Wait a minute! What about Jondra here? I know she is a former Maquis but unless you need help against some carnivorous plants, she’s hardly warrior worthy,” Tom said with an apologetic look to his shipmate.

V’Lana looked quickly in Jondra’s direction as if worried about her response. Jondra merely laid a hand over Tom’s, “That is because you see what I wish you all to see Tom. You see me as a quiet human with a taste for tending plants.”

Tom’s eyes narrowed, “So are you some secret Section 31 agent or something?”

Jondra chuckled softly, “No. You simply are making a common mistake in thinking I’m human. Not only am I an Angosian, I’m one of their super-soldiers.” She briefly squeezed Tom’s hand enough to make his eyes popped open in surprise and pain. “It is a fair bet that I could kill you and a few others before being taken down if the Wizard wasn’t here.”

“Which is one of the reasons why I want her, Tom. She’s a trifecta of skills, talent and misdirection. A lot of races will underestimate her because she’s female. Then since she’s our science type, they will see her as such and rate her less of a combat risk. If this were the Alpha Quadrant, she’d also be underestimated further given what humans make up in crazy, they lack in the strength department. You can get away with some incredible things when you are underestimated. I’ve played the part of the meek, pacifistic Vulcan female on many occasions. Sentients fall for it all the time even when they know that there is little, visually, to go on whether one is a Vulcan or Romulan. You’d be amazed how far a simple, ‘That is not logical!’ can get you.”

Tom gestured towards Harry, “Is he going to be part of the team or just an on call?”

Harry shrugged, “Mostly on-call but I’ll train with you folks as if I was a primary. Frankly, I’m used to working alone and sowing chaos along the way as the Hirogen found out. Still, it would be nice to have some back-up for a change.”

“Plus, except for the training and actual mission, you all could do whatever you decide to do on whatever ship you decide to be assigned to. Certainly, the Earhart will be based out of the Equinox but you needn’t be tied to that ship if you wish another assignment,” V’Lana explained.

“Although I think you need to transfer over to the Equinox, Tom,” Harry said. “It’ll make training the fighter pilot’s easier. Plus I think you’ll find flying the Equinox a lot more fun than Voyager.”

The Orion’s eyes narrowed at this. “Fighters?” Pav asked.

Harry nodded before touching a few buttons on his own PADD. The image of the Earhart changed to a dagger-like fighter. “Fighters. This is my answer to a problem Voyager has had for a long time.” Harry turned towards Tom, “Remember how you commented about the mystery of why in three years you haven’t met any Delta Quadrant race that uses baryon sweeps?”

Tom nodded, “Yeah, it just doesn’t make any sense. Going past 5 years without a sweep isn’t good. Going past ten is asking for trouble.”

Harry waggled a finger at him, “True...if you’re using Alpha Quadrant tech. You see almost all the star-faring races of the Alpha Quadrant use tactical warp drive. Because of this, your normal warp field is generating baryon particles at a much higher rate than normal. Here in the Delta Quadrant, however, they went further down the path that the Romulans tried to but then gave up on.”

V’Lana raised an eyebrow in surprise, “You’ve never mentioned this part, Harry.”

Harry shrugged, “You learn a lot when your plugged into the Borg. The point is your ships and tactics usually mirror those you fight against. Often enemies begin to seem more alike than different in technology. If your typical Gorn or Romulan ship had to fight a Klingon or Kzin ship, both sides would stumble a bit as the former uses mostly plasma torpedoes while the latter uses disruptors and missiles. It’s the same with tactical warp drive; everyone uses it because not too puts you at a disadvantage. The Cloaking Device was the Romulans first defense with them being late to the tactical warp drive party.”

“Wait, we’ve seen tactical warp drive used in the Delta Quadrant,” Tom protested.

Harry nodded, “Yes but let me ask you this, how often as Voyager been jumped or otherwise taken by surprise and then attacked in such a way where you can’t create a stable warp field?”

Tom opened his mouth to reply but stopped. He sat there in silence for a moment before saying, “Quite a lot actually.”

“Exactly! And that’s because most Delta Quadrant races like to fight in normal space on impulse. So most have technology based on sneaking up on their enemy so as to catch them unaware and destabilize their warp field. That way you can’t escape. Also, I know that this sort of fighting is less likely to be detected by the Borg. A lot of how things are done out here is because of various ways used to avoid the Borg. My point is that when Voyager isn’t surprised and able to fight at tactical warp, you folks generally clean up and disable your opponent quickly. Conversely, when you’re forced to fight at impulse, you folks get hosed pretty badly because your weapons aren’t designed to fight as well at impulse speeds. Luckily, the Federation tech level is generally better than what the Delta Quadrant types have to throw at you. So you’ve always managed to win in the end.”

Damir gestured towards the fighter hologram, “And these fighters are designed to protect us at sub-light speeds?”

Harry nodded, “Exactly. With all the ship upgrades, I’m not worried about fighting at warp, but we need a better screen when fighting at sub-light speeds. This fighter design is adapted from a famous sci-fi series I grew up with.” Harry pointed to the four engines which were off-set from the hull, above and below the wings and behind the cockpit. “The general design is flat so they can be housed in cradles right up against the hulls of our ships. Unlike in the shows I watched as a kid, there isn’t any need to launch from inside the ship as we can beam the pilots onboard. Now the wings are there mostly to house missiles and probes if needed. The four main engines give thrust forwards and backwards to allow for maximum maneuverability, thrust and deceleration.” Harry rotated the image so everyone got a look, “As you can see, in the aft, there is a very small warp drive engine. While small, it’s based on some neat tech the Borg assimilated a long time ago. It’s why you don’t see them using warp nacelles on their ships. Still, this engine has limited fuel and primarily is just used to bug out of a bad situation with the intent of the fleet picking them up. Or at least to warp in with the fleet so they are already launched in case of trouble.”

Zorn pointed to the weapon pods at the tips of the wings, both top and bottom, “Those don’t look very efficient.”

Harry smiled, “That’s where the old sci-fi design comes in. Right now we’re seeing the fighter in carry or cruise mode. Here is why the original fighter were called X-Wings.” Another flick of a switch and the hologram changed to where pylons broke off the tops and bottom of the wings to form more of an X shape. “As you can see, the phasers on the tips are on swivel mounts so they can fire in mostly every direction. Between all four, they can cover any direction an enemy might come at them. These are low power phasers designed for smaller craft. The front of the fighter houses the main phaser bank to use on ships. Of course if the shields go down, the wing-mounted phasers are still going to chop an enemy pretty badly. Also, you may have noticed that there is a cockpit on the underneath of the ship. This is a secondary gunner station can be used when severe combat operations are expected. This way, the pilot can concentrate on the flying while the gunner does their work with the shooting.”

Zorn nodded with a small piggish grunt of pleasure, “Very impressive. I take it the sensors are geared towards the tech you mentioned is more common here in the Delta Quadrant?”

Harry nodded, “They are. So unless we pick up more ships along the way somehow, we’ll have a complement of 24 fighters. Four each on the Phoenix and Marianne, six on the Equinox and ten on Voyager. While I’m confident that these fighters can go the distance, they are still just souped up shuttles. So their primary use is to provide cover for the main ships if something happens to keep them from going to warp. Given my review of both Voyager’s and the Equinox’s logs, these fighters will do just fine.”

Tom shook his head, “I wish we had had these babies when we were dealing with the Kazon! What are you calling the design class?”

Harry grinned like a wolf, “Well in honor of friends and family, I went with the Marauder class.”

Quite a few around the table chuckled in approval at the name.

“Also, another aspect of these I’m tinkering with is they can be flown remotely. Given the vastness of space, there is going to be a lot of times where the need for an actual sentient pilot isn’t necessary. We can always build more Marauder fighters but the loss of even one Marauder pilot is going to hurt,” Harry pointed out. “In fact, if there weren’t a lot of missions where having a pilot is useful, I would have designed the entire fighter to be autonomous and driven by an AI similar to what is used on the holodeck but without any awareness.”

“Oh? Why not just create an actual pilot hologram? The Doctor on Voyager is pretty amazing,” Damir asked. “So much better than the Equinox version.”

Harry shook his head, “I’ve already had this conversation with the Doctor. Sure, we might be able to create such a thing but I don’t like the moral aspect of it. As I said to the Doctor, whether or not he’s real or not, he perceives himself as one. That perception is his reality. Therefore it would be wrong to just create a thinking, feeling program to fight for us. Even if we loaded the program up with loyalty and a sense of duty, well that would be just as bad as taking prisoners and brainwashing them to do the same. Alive or not, I’m not going to ask any thinking AI, to risk their existence in a way we aren’t willing to risk an organic one.”

Uriash made a loud rumble in his chest before hissing out, “Good. The three cousin races that make up the modern Gorn Confederacy initially fought each other. Each tried to prove that their home-world was the original home to the Gorns and their culture should be the base of a unified government. Our ancestors fought their wars by remote with sophisticated robots so as to not lose any Gorn lives. Finally, the robots used exceeded their programming and refused stating that the difference between the Gorns each faction’s robots were sworn to protect were little different than those of the other two factions. When all three sides tried to force the issue, the robots rebelled. We ended up having to slaughter the very soldiers we had created. Soldiers who saw past our ideological differences when we ourselves could not. Today, we look back in shame at our ancestors actions. I am pleased to see that you would not make that same mistake, Harry Potter.”

Harry spread his hands, “I know from experience what it is like to be born into war, conditioned to fight in a war I knew little about and finally to give up my life due to the manipulation and propaganda I had been fed. Luckily I’m not very good at staying dead.”

In the silence that comment was met with, Jondra looked at V’Lana, “Why did you name the ship the Earhart? Is it because we encountered her early on in the Delta Quadrant?”

V’Lana shook her head, “Not exactly. Oh sure, it was the log entry of that mission which caught my attention. After reading her history, I felt her name was appropriate given she was outwardly an explorer and scientist. Yet she was also an agent and spy. I figured that was the perfect name for our ship given our relationship to ships that are nominally about exploration and science.”

“I’m sure she might agree with that,” Tom said with a nod of his head.

V’Lana looked around the room, catching everyone’s eyes briefly, “So...do we have a deal?”

A chorus of assents caused V’Lana to smile with the delight so odd to see on a woman who looked like a Vulcan for the most part.

**OoOoO**

“Come in!” Janeway called out, not bothering to look up from the report she was reading. For a change, the report was filled with good news and specs for changes made or scheduled for Voyager.

The door to her ready room opened up and Captain Tahl, Commissioner Ransom, V’Lana and Harry Potter walked in. Although with the Phoenix now being complete, maybe it was Captain Potter as well.

Janeway immediately stood up, “What can I do for you all?”

Tahl looked to Ransom who sighed, “Kathryn...we’d like to talk about the Marianne and your XO position.”

Janeway looked surprised, “Perhaps we should all take a seat. This sounds like one of _those_ conversations.”

Harry Potter chuckled, “All that and a bag of crisps!”

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** : I sort of apologize for the lengths of my notes. I think it’s because this is my first Star Trek fic. However, I like to point out that I’m not trying to be all “Oh look how clever I am!” I just like world-building and showing my work. That I’m finding many of my readers are only familiar with the more recent Star Trek stuff just makes me want to explain what I’m doing even more. That and to help keep things from being misunderstood. I have had quite a few people say I ripped off _Terry Pratchett_ with the Sword of Truth in my _Harry Potter and the Rejected Path_ fic. Well the jokes on them. I haven’t read much of Pratchett’s works (except some of his early stuff like _Hogfather_ ) and I was basing the extra Hallow on the Blades of Zz'ria which were carried by the mutant Kylun in the Marvel Comics series, _Excalibur_. They are enchanted that they could not hurt anyone who was pure of heart. I felt that if they could do that, they could be used in a judgement worthy of Solomon.

 **Show Quotes** : It’s just the nerd in me. I can’t help but throw in little jokes or things from other shows. It’s always fun when my readers catch them. This chapter has one from the late 70’s I think only a few will catch. Of course given a lot of people didn’t even know what a Horta was (!!!) I’m not holding my breath on people catching this chapters Easter Eggs.

 **Pon Farr** : The Pon Farr is another good example of where a show will state a fact...and then just ignore that fact for the rest of the series. The whole “Have to return to Vulcan or die” makes NO sense whatsoever in an advanced, star-faring race who is bound to logic. Because if they didn’t have a fix for it, then no Vulcan near their Pon Farr time would be allowed to leave Vulcan. Or their planet of birth given it would have to be home planet else the entire Romulan race, by definition, could not exist.

The way I see it, Vulcans in a married state lock their bodies a state where they don’t have to go back to mate. However, the longer the Vulcan male is away from his mate (and the psionic resonance) the more likely they will enter a Pon Farr and need to mate. In Tuvok and T’Pev’s case, however, the more they are away from their spouses _and_ know they probably will never see them again, increases the chance they will need to take a new mate.

Again, it’s obvious that the “return or die” has been somehow fix or otherwise the last place you’d want to put a male Vulcan on is a deep-space exploration ship like Voyager given he went into Pon Farr about 2 years into the voyage. I’m guessing that Vorik was assigned to Voyager for the initial 2 year ‘shake-down’ cruise.

 **Janeway Bashing** : I’m _**not**_ trying to bash Janeway. However, it is obvious by the episode _Good Shepherd_ that not only has Janeway forgotten all the studies she alluded to in the opening bit of the episode _Relativity_ , that she also can’t remember her crewman’s names. My father taught an average of 120 new history students a year and managed to remember their names, often years later. You think after five years that Janeway would know the names of all 140-150 of her crew by heart. That she doesn’t is telling. From Picard, I could expect this given a Galaxy class ship can carry a crew of 1,000-6,000 and with civilians on board, has a maximum capacity of 15,000 personnel. That’s a little over twice the capacity of two Nimitz class super-carriers. ( _Which really shows that the Enterprise-D or any Galaxy class ship REALLY shouldn’t go into a fight with its saucer section still attached since that’s where most of the civilians are housed._ )

 **Kim Bashing** : I also don’t want to seem like I’m Kim bashing. However, like Ron Weasley, a lot of what I write about him is extrapolated from what we see on the show. Sure he’s young and can make mistakes. On the other hand, when you look at his job, you realize that Ensign Kim is Voyager’s Wesley Crusher. Kim ends up doing all sorts of things that he probably shouldn’t. Of course this is an aspect of the TV show and budgets. My point, however, is he’s either an ops guy who shouldn’t be hogging engineering jobs OR he’s an engineering guy who does way too much bridge time. I can side-step this a bit by having him be part of the logistics side of ops which does have overlap onto many engineering jobs. Still, it you look at the crew-manifest seen in a few episodes, you find there are a LOT of lieutenants and lieutenant commanders on the ship. So I have to come up with some fan-wank to explain why he’s there. Sadly, it paints Janeway in a bad light but one that’s believable. As I’ve shown in this chapter and previously, Janeway, like so many Star Trek captains is really good at adhering to the rules only when it suits them. That Janeway is helping Kim along as a sort of pet project seems believable to me.

 **Other Crew** : I do try to keep OC’s to a minimum. Right now, even though some characters like Dorothy Chang are only mentioned by name, I do try to use one’s which got actual screen time. Maria Gilmore and Sakonna are good examples of this. Some, like Tridiva Mohindra are me giving a name to one of the unnamed crew-members seen on the show but never given a name. She was on the surface in _Basics Pt. 1_ and served on the bridge in _Scorpion Parts 1 & 2_. Jondra Hommein was a background character on the Val Jean and then Voyager in _eleven_ different episodes. Eleven episodes and they didn’t bother to give her a name even in the script! If she’d been a Star Wars character, her Wookipedia page would probably be 4 pages long! Her name is an anagram of the actress Jordan Monheim who played her.

 **Romulan Paranoia** : It struck me in the episode _Relativity_ how paranoid the Romulans were and this was backed up in a lot of the TNG episodes. I always got an East German vibe from the Romulans even though they were obviously modeled after Communist China. (The Mao haircuts was always a giveaway though that may not be obvious to my younger readers) Anyway, I see the Romulans living in a society where anyone could be a state security agent or just a snitch. So you end up having good officers like Tahl coming under suspicion simply for not always towing the Party line.

 **Modified X-Wings** : I originally wanted to go with Colonial Vipers but using a modified X-Wing design made more sense given in the ‘cruise’ mode, the ship would be a lot more flat and therefore could be held closer to the hull. While space doesn’t have a drag as such, I figure you want anything against the hull to be as close as possible or you throw off the warp field bubble.

Because of the fixed-wing part of this design, they look like a cross of the modern X-Wing with the older ARC-170 fighter. The engines are a bit further from the cockpit out on the wings and the front of the fighter is from the X-Wing and not the stubby ARC-170 design.

Also, I hope folks would realize that it’s obvious that inside the fighters, they still are using artificial gravity. So the gunner isn’t going to be “upside-down” given from their POV, they are right-side up due to the gravity pull on their part of the fighter. Of course, it would make more sense that the pilots would be flying in some form of “null-gee” field so they could pull serious g-force maneuvers and not feel them.


	11. Hunters -Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads-up. I went back and edited all the previous chapters on FF.net and am in the process of getting the same updated here. So at some point, check back to see if the "last updated on" date has changed.
> 
> While I added a little content here and there, it was mostly editing mistakes or making certain things clearer to readers not as well versed in Star Trek lore as I am. Unlike many fan-fic authors, I have no trouble going back and editing (and removing) things so even things like the ranks at the end of Chapter Four can be edited as the story goes on.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _The fascination of shooting as a sport depends almost wholly on whether you are at the right or wrong end of the gun_.” (The Adventures of Sally) **P. G. Wodehouse** – English novelist & humorist – 1881-1975

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 07-24-2020

_Commodore’s Log, Star Date 51203.4. All repairs, alterations, additions and resupply are complete and we are finally underway again for the Alpha Quadrant. We leave behind a place of much needed rest and reflection. We also leave behind a gift to the Delta Quadrant as well as an experiment. The gift is the Pit Stop itself. The hope is that the station will grow into a free port where future ships like Voyager may find a safe haven to rest and repair at._

_An experiment given the ‘crew’ left behind. True to his word to the Doctor, Harry Potter had worked to repair the damage Seron photonic Dejaren. With help from Seven and many of the other former drones, Harry was able to not only repair Dejarin’s code but to rid him of his hatred of organics. In addition, the team repaired the damaged EMH from the Equinox as well as updating and upgrading some of the more robust programs found in our ship’s databases. In addition to these photonics is a host of what Harry calls droids. Harry’s plan is that the photonic AI’s now have a place where they could grow and exceed the limits of their original programming aided by these autonomous droids. The photonic repair AI version of Lewis Zimmerman will hopefully be able to utilize all the data, sub-routines and the like left behind to keep photonics with the ability to keep the Pit Stop running as a free port and as a home for them to grow._

_Interestingly the former Equinox EMH decided to take the name of Hans Zimmerman and altered his appearance to match the real Lewis Zimmerman’s father more closely. He also merged his memory files with that of the Doctor. While there had been some initial concern about the Pit-Stop being misused, Harry says he left a few nasty surprises to ensure no one misuses the base. However, Harry assures me that he has confidence that the non-organic beings we leave behind will enjoy their new roles. Not the AIs will be the only crew. Prior to our expected arrival, Harry had made overtures to the Zahl, a peaceful race with a small trading Confederation loosely allied with the much larger Krenim Imperium. Before our new impromptu fleet left, two Zahl vessels and a Krenim research vessel docked at the Pit Stop. The first Zahl ship carried the new personnel who would assist with manning and expanding the base. All three ships took advantage of the baryon sweep and other maintenance functions available. Parts of the expected use fees will be kept back to be used to help any future refugee ships that might find their way to the Pit Stop. Our little way of paying it forward and hopefully make it an important resource to this part of the Delta Quadrant._

_As for our fleet, we now point ourselves back towards home. With new shipmates, new ships and news from home, I hope I can move past my previous missteps and mistakes. I am honored and humbled that the other captains pushed that I take on the rank of Commodore and be the over-all commander of our fleet. While it is a big responsibility, the addition of Commissioner Ransom to take on many of the personnel issues of the crews will allow me to better focus on the mission at hand. I find myself once more excited to be exploring even as I know that I’ll be an old woman, if I’m lucky, when we finally reach home_.

**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 28, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51162.3**

“Lieutenant Laren! Bring us around the _Marianne_ so we can shield her better from those flanking from that side of the formation.” Janeway turned towards tactical, “Tuvok, I want a breakup the main phaser into pulses to target multiple ships and then follow up with torpedoes. Hopefully, the phaser fire will blind their sensors a bit.”

“Fighter status!” Riker called out as the ship rocked from incoming phaser fire from the surrounding Hazari ships. With their size and power, everyone on the bridge knew how badly Voyager would have fared against such ships had she been alone. It helped the sensors from the Equinox and Borg enhancements had allowed them to spot the trap they had been unknowingly falling into.

“All wings are reporting they are ready to make the jump back into the system!” SLT Mohindra reported with more than a bit of relish.”

Riker looked at Janeway, “Well our hammer is coming.”

Janeway nodded, “Time to shore up the anvil.” She pressed the link to the Equinox, “Tahl, I’m sure you’ve seen the fighters are in position. Are you ready?”

“Moving into position with the _Phoenix_ now. The modifications to this ship are really coming through. The old shield array would have been shredded by now,” the Romulan said with perfect calm.

“Well hopefully this will be over soon,” Janeway said before switching to the Marianne’s link, “Chakotay, Tahl’s almost ready and the fighters are just waiting for our signal. Status?”

“The multi-target missiles are prepped and ready,” Chakotay replied. Like the Phoenix, the Marianne’s weapons had been geared more towards sub-light warfare. While not large ships, both were formidably armed.

Before Janeway could hail the Phoenix, a brilliant stag made of light jumped through one of the bulkheads, “Ready on my end,” it spoke with Harry Potter’s voice.

“Show-off!” Riker muttered as Janeway flicked another link, “Seven, send the signal.”

“Aye captain,” came the reply. In Astrometrics, Seven turned to Treana who gave her a gesture Seven had learned to be the Orion equivalent of a thumbs-up. Seven sent the coded, sub-space transmission.

In the blackness of deep space, 24 sleek fighters cruised at one-quarter impulse. Their warp drives were online and ready. All they needed was the coordinates and heading. A beep on his console made newly promoted Junior Lieutenant Rick Sternbach smile, “This is Red Leader, that’s the go signal. Arm missiles and prepare to jump.” In the cockpits of the other fighters, the signal was downloaded even as missile safety locks disengaged.

“This is Green Leader. Snakes are ready,” JLT Vale Li-Paz replied calmly as if jumping into combat was routine. Given his time with the Maquis, it probably was.

“Red Leader, Blue Leader; the Ravens are a go!” JLT Breve Jarvin echoed.

“Gold Leader here. Badgers are ready!” JLT Gal Sahreen said with obvious excitement in her voice.

JLT Sternbach checked the formation on one of his screens. Each wing had two pairs up front with the last pair following in a triangular formation. The formation was set so that Red and Gold groups would come in on one flank with Blue and Green groups coming in on the other.

A green light on his console told him all the back-up droids in the gunner seats were all online. These droids were an experiment. They mimicked human form simply because the cockpits were designed for such. Each droid was capable of flying and fighting the fighters but other than the mission parameters, had no other autonomous functions. Their primary purpose was to get the fighter (if possible) and the pilot to safety if things went wrong.

“Alright, all wings lock X-Foils in attack position and then increase to pursuit speed!” Sternbach ordered. All around him, the Marauders wings broke up top and bottom with the phaser pylons locking into place. The phasers turrets at the end of each pylon rotated so that they all were facing forward. While capable of firing into almost every arc, the initial strike would all be fire forward. As the X-Foils locked into place, the front of the wings opened to reveal the missiles inside. Once this was completed, the entire formation increased to full impulse so they wouldn’t waste time having to accelerate once they dropped out of warp.

“Jump in three, two, one...Jump!” Sternbach ordered even though the nav-computers were all linked and ensured all 24 fighters jumped at once.

**OoOoO**

Group Captain Mazar growled deep in his throat from his command chair on his ship the _Headhunter_. He was facing a situation every Hazari captain hated. That being taking a job only to find the information (and bounty price) didn’t match the tactical situation. First off, the client had only spoken of three ships and one of those was supposed to be a beat up, short-ranged science vessel. As his ship rocked from the shields taking long-range phaser fire hits, Mazar could see how wrong the client’s information had been. Not only was there another small ship, the Equinox science vessel looked like it had gone through a complete overhaul in the last month since the client’s probes had scanned the vessel.

To make matters worse, the target had obviously been alerted to the trap that Mazar had planned. What worried the Group Captain was that instead of running, they attacked. Now Mazar was hurriedly bringing in the wings of his trap to see if they could still complete the job. Yet Mazar was very much thinking of breaking off. As much as no Hazari liked to back away from a bounty, this prey was not the weak, under-supplied ships he’d been promised. Even if they won this battle, the bounty price might not cover the repairs needed afterwards.

That and the fact the small fleet brazenly attacked his much larger fleet bothered him. He was missing something; he knew it.

“Group-Captain! We have incoming fighters entering the system!” his tactical officer cried out.

“Show me!” Mazar roared as he banged a fist against the armrest of his command chair.

A hologram of the tactical situation blossomed into the air before him. Two groups of 12 fighters had dropped out of warp on the flanks of his main group. While both groups in turn had elements of Hazari behind them as they sped towards the battle, Mazar knew that these fighters had too much time to attack before being caught between his ships and the other ships of his hunter fleet.

As his eyes roamed over the display to try and find the best counter, the fighters began volleying high-speed missiles. Worse, the main human fleet of ships also accelerated towards his formation.

There was no profit here, “Helm! Get us out of here! Bring us about, bearing two-two mark seven. Tactical, blast us a path out of here! As soon as we can, go to high warp and get us away from here!”

Mazar’s jaw began to hurt before he realized he was grinding his teeth. The target’s damnable torpedoes threw out so much radiation that it made creating a stable warp field difficult. He hoped his ships could get free from the battle zone quick enough to go to escape speeds before taking too much damage.

**OoOoO**

Captain Tahl smiled as he leaned forward in his command chair, “Paris! Break formation and take us toward those two trailing ships. They aren’t going to be able to shoot down all those missiles. We can follow up on those strikes and disable their weapon’s array and engines and then tractor them away from the hot zone.”

“Aye captain!” Paris replied as his hands flew over the navigation controls.

CDR Dhael smirked and pointed at the tactical display, “Seven was correct about the Hazari warp fields. They were much more vulnerable to tetrion radiation pulses than I would have expected.” The display showed the more than half of the Hazari ships from the main group had been unable to jump to high warp and were desperately trying to disengage away from the battle. The outer wings of the Hazari trap had already disengaged.

Tahl nodded and hit the dedicated comm-link to Voyager, “Commodore, we are going in to take some prisoners to find out who hired them.”

“Understood Captain. We’ll be building a bridge for our fleeing enemy over here. Without risking the fighters, we can only encourage the rest of them to leave,” Janeway’s voice came back.

SLT Trevor Santos spoke up, “Captain, it looks like Captain Chakotay and the Wizard had the same idea. I’m showing they have captured two of those smaller corvette type craft,”

“Good! Now let’s end this. Begin targeting their weapons array and then send the surrender communication. I’d rather not have to disable their engines if we don’t have to,” Tahl ordered. He looked over to the science console, “Ventrys, can we get a crew count now? I’d rather not send boarding parties over if we don’t have to.”

Ventrys turned toward the center of the bridge, “These ships have minimal crew. I’m detecting a lot more automation and the like for a ship that size. I would conjecture that since we know the Hazari make their living as bounty hunters, they try to minimize the crew on many of their ships to keep costs down.”

Tahl nodded as the deck below his feet thrummed with phaser fire and torpedoes being launched, “Good. I am betting the ships that went to warp probably have the bulk of their crew along with their boarding parties.”

“Captain! I’m getting a request for surrender terms!” Ventrys said the message scrolled across her screen as the universal translator did its job.

Dhael snorted, “To be expected. These Hazari are business types for all their martial prowess. They aren’t inclined to go down fighting.”

**OoOoO**

“Thanks, Neelix!” Harry said as the Talaxian freshened up his coffee. He’d tried to convince Neelix that he was more than happy to do such things himself but Harry realized that the Talaxian enjoyed being useful. He took a sip and turn back to pay attention to the after-action briefing where Chakotay was currently speaking.

“So, given we have some sensor equipment left over from the refit of the _Equinox_ , I think we might want to a variation on B’Elanna’s old dreadnought idea. We modify one or both Hazari corvettes we captured to beef up its sensor capability. It could be crewed by a modified AI along with some of those independent droids Harry makes. We could then use it as an advanced scout that would have a lot more capabilities than the current Class 5 probes we have been using. We got lucky this time in seeing the trap before it was sprung. I don’t like relying on luck,” Chakotay said before sitting down next to his XO Sakonna.

Harry set his coffee cup down, “I think this idea has merit. First off, we don’t have to adapt the two ships all that much since they’re already heavily automated. Second, I don’t think many Delta Quadrant races are going to shoot at a Hazari ship. I mean that’s like tickling a dragon. Thirdly, depending on how we do it, even if a Borg ship comes across it, it will be ignored if we do it correctly, right Seven?”

Seven, who was present due to her unique Borg knowledge as well as being head of Astrometrics, nodded, “If we tune the Federation equipment to a more Hazari manner, then yes a Borg vessel would not bother to assimilate it.”

“I also believe this to be the best use of these ships. While they wouldn’t need much in the way of a crew, we really don’t have the personnel to spare,” Tahl pointed out.

Janeway looked at B’Elanna, “Do you think you and all the engineer teams could get the two ships completed in a timely manner at our next stop?”

B’Elanna nodded, “I think so. With the information from the Zahl we met back at the Pit Stop, I think we should be able to get everything done. We might have to give up some profits by allowing the Zahl to do more of the stripping of the other two Hazari ships.”

“Well with all the money the Zahl are going to make being the prime caretaker of the Pit Stop, I don’t think they’ll be averse to us being their longer than expected or changing what we need. Rather agreeable chaps, these Zahl,” Harry pointed out.

“Let me know as soon as you can if this will change our shore leave rosters. I think it’s important that we get information, even incomplete, out quickly to get ahead of the fleet rumor mill,” Ransom said.

Janeway nodded at this, “Agreed. Well, I think we’ve done enough for today. Let’s let our tactical people crunch their numbers and see how we did. For all that we didn’t want this battle, it does give us a good starting point to build fleet training sims. B’Elanna, get with the engineering heads and work out what you think you’ll need and get that info to Rudy as quickly as you can. Unless anyone else has anything, I think we can call it a day.”

V’Lana spoke up, “Don’t forget that we still need to figure out what sort of ceremony we will have to launch the _Earhart_ with. Also, given we’re a sort of hybrid fleet now, I think perhaps we should have some of our own awards. Or at least decide when it’s appropriate to use non-Starfleet awards.”

“Is that really necessary, V’Lana?” Tuvok asked in the dry way that showed he felt something was illogical.

Harry pipped up, “Actually Tuvok I think it is. A little under a century and a half before I was born, we had a famous general say he could conquer all of Europe on a trunk filled with medals. It might seem illogical, but I’ve seen firsthand how hard people will work to get one or how proud they are when awarded one. It’s a small thing, but if it helps keep people getting into their fighters or beaming onto a hostile ship, well I think it’s time worth spending. If anything, it gives people something to show their kids which they will hopefully have some time soon.”

“Plus, we have many races in our crew who come from martial stock. Not acknowledging their combat prowess will cause resentment over time. You humans may have stepped away from such rewards but much of the galaxy has not,” Tahl said.

Tuvok bowed his head in acknowledgment of the point.

Janeway stood and everyone followed, “I agree; we can look into ir as time permits. Well let’s get back to our ships. When our tactical and engineering crew are ready, we can reconvene.” She looked toward the side of the room with more of the uniformed personnel. “Dismissed.”

The room broke up into various groups. Janeway and Riker moved to get more coffee while chatting with Chakotay and Sakonna. Tom and Ro were obviously speaking about the battle given their hand gestures. Harry could see Tom’s new rank on his collar. Not only had Tom been reinstated as a lieutenant, Tahl had promoted him to Senior Lieutenant. The rest of the meeting members either left of huddle in a group to chat.

Harry wasn’t feeling very social able and so was going to apparate back to the Phoenix when Seven made eye-contact with him and purposively strode over to him. “Seven; can I help you?”

The former drone nodded, “I do believe so. Would it be possible to go somewhere private so we can discuss various matters?”

Harry was surprised by this. Generally speaking, Seven rarely was this circumspect. She had already become rather infamous for having little in the way of a filter and said what she was thinking. This sort of brutal honesty didn’t sit well with much of the crew to include the Vulcans.

“Care to hop over to the _Phoenix_?” Harry asked.

Seven nodded so Harry took her arm and jumped to his ship. Harry had already learned that apparating while in space was a whole lot easier than he’d ever have imagined. He figured the lack of a planet’s gravity and mass to be the reason. Unlike most who had done a side-along apparition trip, Seven barely pursed her lips in response to the uncomfortable ride.

“Hello Seven. It is agreeable to see you again,” said the being in the command chair.

Seven bowed her head in greeting, “To you as well, Veer.”

“Where is Alars?” Harry asked as he looked at the ship status display which was green across the board. While the Phoenix’s bridge mimicked a standard (if much smaller) Federation bridge with all the various stations, the ship itself could be run by one person in the command chair if they had a way to link to the ship in the manner he shared with Veer and Alars.

“Alars is currently regenerating early. He wishes to begin work on the damage to the starboard shield array prior to our scheduled departure,” Veer said.

There was a good reason that both Veer and Alars were the only crew other than Harry himself on the Phoenix. The first was that both were still were mostly drones for similar reasons. For Veer, the three-armed Edosian had been heavily irradiated while a drone. While Harry was able to deal with the radiation magically to keep him from exposing others, it also meant that there was little Harry could do to remove much in the way of Veer’s Borg shell. While Veer’s head was exposed, the rest of his body was still encased in the hardened Borg shell. Even more disconcerting is that the Borg weren’t content with the three arms. They had added mechanical arms under all three original arms to better allow Veer to control multiple devices. Harry had long given up trying to figure out why the Borg seemed wedded to having drones physically do so much which could be done via their intra-link. Indeed, much of running a Cube could be done with over 80% of the drones never leaving their alcoves.

Alars Zenkar wasn’t radioactive but he had two things working against him. The first he was a Cardassian. With so much of the crew being Maquis, Harry felt it prudent to keep Alars here on the Phoenix. The second reason was that he had Yerem Kel syndrome. This complicated the assimilation process to the point where again Harry was limited in what he could do to remove the Borg tech. In Alars’ case, he retained almost all of his Borg form. Still, Harry had been able to get Alars’ skin and hair returned to normal even if his left eye still had a Borg optical implant. However, like Harry had done with the Gorn Uriash, he had worked to smooth out the Borg tech so that Alars looked like he was wearing the form-fitting armor colored in the tones Cardassians preferred in their military uniform. This look, Harry felt, would not make it any easier for him to be around any of the former Maquis. Harry had learned that one from a wizard who had tastelessly shown up at a costume party dressed like a Death Eater. Luckily for the wizard, Harry hadn’t cast anything lethal. However, it didn’t help the hapless wizard that Hermione, Neville and Luna of all people had cast on instinct as well. He didn’t want Alars dredging up similar memories from the Maquis in the fleet.

Harry had felt that since there had been tension among the crew around the former drones, having two who still looked much like Borg would be bad for morale. That and he liked the company. Veer had a quirky sense of humor and Alars had a dry wit that reminded Harry of Neville Longbottom of all people. While he didn’t keep them a secret, few in the fleet had met Veer and Alars other than Seven, V’Lana as well as Tom who often visited when he wasn’t on Voyager with Maria and Treana.

“Seven and I are going to have a chat so give us some privacy,” Harry said to Veer as he motioned Seven to follow him.

“Long-range scans show nothing of note in the area. There should be no cause for an interruption,” Veer said.

Harry sighed. Unlike Alars, Veer’s species were very…Hermione like in that they would brief you at the drop of a hat. Harry hadn’t expected a reply and wouldn’t have gotten one other than a nod from Alars. He liked Veer but at times the Edosian would alert him to almost everything he was doing. So far Harry and Alars simply rolled with it but it could be grating at times.

Harry led Seven through the Phoenix to his personal quarters. Like the Phoenix itself, his rooms were rather spartan. Perhaps growing up in a cupboard under the stairs had made an imprint on him. Still, Harry had found that even when he could have led an opulent life, it just wasn’t something he liked. He gestured to Seven to take the chair by his desk while he himself sprawled on the bed. “So, what’s on your mind?”

Seven was silent for a long while, her eyes not looking at Harry. Finally, she made eye-contact and pursed her lips, “I am unsure how to proceed.”

“Start and the beginning and work to the end and then stop. That’s usually a surprisingly good way to go about things,” Harry said with his lop-sided grin.

“How droll,” Seven said in a flat tone. She hesitated again before continuing, “I am finding myself faced with a problem I do not believe I have the capacity to solve. Yet I calculate that this sort of issue would be inappropriate or unsettling for most people if I went for them to help.”

“Is this a sexual thing?” Harry asked.

Seven lifted an eyebrow, “Yes. How did you surmise that so quickly?”

Harry laughed, “I keep telling folks that they think that the 24th Century human is advanced and has moved past so many sins of the past. It’s mostly bollocks, especially if it’s regarding sex. Hell, even the Vulcans can still be prickly about it. So are things not going well with you and B’Elanna? I know you have a lot of the collective knowledge of the Borg. But knowing and feeling are very different things.”

“I believe the current situation with Lieutenant Commander Torres is within normal parameters. While we are often at odds during duty hours, our time engaged in sexual activities as been very…enjoyable.”

Harry chuckled, “Well some couples are like that. My best friends bickered constantly. It often looks bad from the outside. But that’s not the problem, is it?”

Seven shook her head, “It is not. Prior to our arrival at the Pit-Stop, B’Elanna showed up and wished to engage in sexual relations. I was agreeable to this due to dealing with Yeoman Treana’s pheromones. However, as we initiated the beginning of our encounter, I queried her on how to proceed. She told me to ‘kiss her like I meant’ it. This request has bothered me ever since because I believe I am unable to comply.”

Harry was silent for a moment before sighing, “Well I can see why you might think that. You and all drones who went through a maturation chamber had your puberty stolen from you. You essentially had your formative sexual years leap-frogged so you don’t have the experience to deal with your current emotions and desires.”

Seven nodded, “That does seem to be a reasonable summation of the situation.”

“Thank you,” Harry said a bit sarcastically. “However, I think you can comply but right now you don’t know how. More to the point, you don’t have the language, if you will, to articulate what B’Elanna is asking. But first, what do _**you**_ think she’s asking?”

Seven shook her head, “I am unsure. Hence my desire to speak to you. Your unique status seemed to be the best avenue to take given your long personal history as well as your time connected to the Collective.”

“Well I’m not the best one to come to for relationship advice as mine own life was sort of a disaster. Still, I know what B’Elanna is asking for. Right now, you probably have what it takes, you just don’t know how to express it.”

“Can you instruct me in this? I find the thought of not being able to fulfill this request is weighing upon my mind and it is impairing my efficiency to intolerable rates.”

Harry laughed, “And that right there is a good example that you do have the capacity to comply. You see, Seven, it is trite to say a relationship is between two people but it’s something often overlooked. What B’Elanna is asking of you is actually a reflection of her own issues. As you well know, B’Elanna strides two worlds and through most of her life, neither side gave her much in the way of support. I’m sure in the beginning, you were a sexual encounter, nothing more. You are, by the way, incredibly sexy.”

“I have found this to be true given the reactions from most of the crew,” Seven agreed.

“However, while it’s one thing to have a fling or two with you, you both are finding that there is a bit more going on, correct?”

Seven nodded, “I believe so. If Commander Torres were only after sexual gratification, I conjecture she would leave soon after we have completed our assignation. She, however, likes to cuddle as she puts it.”

“And do you enjoy this cuddling?” Harry asked. “I’m not being judgmental. Cuddling could be seen as a poor use of time.”

Seven shook her head, “No, the cuddling is agreeable. I am finding the tactile experience with her to me most rewarding.”

Harry laughed, “Well you and I share growing up without a human contact. So I know why you probably find cuddling to be nice. I’m betting you found it off-putting at first? I know I use to freeze up when Hermione would hug me. I didn’t know how to process it.”

Seven simply nodded at this.

“Okay so this is where you are getting into territory every teen goes through. The whole “do they like me the way I like them” aspect. In B’Elanna’s case, she is used to being discarded. So much so that she developed bad habits to push people away. It’s easier to break things off yourself than deal with the pain of being dumped. It’s not much better but again, we organics are a pile of contradictions.”

“So, you are saying that B’Elanna’s request is related to her trouble with maintaining relationships?” Seven asked. She was obviously confused.

Harry nodded, “What she was asking you for was a commitment, if only for that moment. To fake it even. She was asking you to give her a moment where she could feel wanted and loved. To feel that, even for that hour or so you spent together, was something special. Something real. Her specific request was for you to kiss her in a way that made her feel wanted, to feel needed. And maybe a plea not to leave her in the future.”

Seven was silent as she pondered this. “I believe I understand. However, the fact remains I do not have the capacity to comply with her request. As you said, I do not have the language to do so.”

Harry shook his head with a chuckle, “You do. You simply haven’t been around people to show you how it’s done. Would you like me to teach you? It will require a fair bit of intimacy.”

“I will comply. This emotional interruption cannot be allowed to continue. What must I do?” Seven asked.

“Come sit with me,” Harry said as he patted the bed as he moved to allow her some room.

“Should I disrobe?” Seven asked.

Harry blinked at that, “While I already know you are easy on the eyes, Seven, let’s just go with the basics for now.”

Seven nodded and sat down rather stiffly next to Harry.

Harry manifested the Elder wand into his hand, “I want to show you a bit of magic I don’t think you’ve seen. The bridge crew have seen me use my Patronus as a messenger before, but that’s not what it’s usually used for. It’s a spell where you take positive thoughts and feelings to create a protective shield or even a weapon against Dark creatures. I initially had a lot of problems with this spell because the normal way you were taught was to think of happy thoughts. I didn’t have many. Luckily for me, my teacher was a werewolf who didn’t have a lot of happy thoughts to work with either. He had found that it was more the emotion than actual memories that were the key. You may not have many happy memories and I’m betting the few you might remember from your parents are tainted because you know they ended up drones.”

Seven nodded, “I rarely think on my pre-Borg memories. As you said, they are painful and give me little comfort.”

Harry waggled his index finger at Seven, “Exactly! To get around this we need to use a different pathway to that positive emotions. That’s where hope comes in. Where desire comes in. For no matter how bad things can get, there is always the dreams of better days. To imagine what life could be like. Of how you want to make it. You want to comply, as you put it, with B’Elanna because no matter what the Borg did to you, you’re still human and we crave love and affection. You need to focus on the feelings you get when you do something that B’Elanna likes. Of what you might secretly desire, even if you don’t believe it will come to pass. All of those hopes and dreams that make you feel warm inside, to smile simply at the memory.”

Before Seven could think of anything to say to this, Harry made a quick series of wand movements, “ _ **Expecto Patronum**_!”

Seven couldn’t help but let out a gasp as ghostly animal made of white light burst into the room. It turned its horned head and took a step closer to Seven. She reached out, but did not touch, the mesmerizing apparition. It was hard to describe what she was feeling as waves of contentment and warmth were radiated by the magical being.”

Harry let Seven bask in the glow before softly saying, “Thanks, Prongs!” He released the spell and gave Seven some time to compose herself. Harry wondered if Seven was capable of crying, whether in sorrow or joy since she looked like she might do so at the moment.

Finally, Harry broke the silence, “Not to put too much of hyperbole into this, but that was love made manifest. It is a projection of my memories, my dreams and even in a way my sorrow for those that I’ve lost but who continue to inspire me. That is the what the Borg steals away from people. They say they are driving towards perfection but it’s a sterile, cold one. You felt the love in my spell. That love was mostly driven by what other people did _for_ me. By being there for me, for putting up with me and for just being my friend. And I did the same back and so it feeds off itself. B’Elanna was asking that you help her get to that point where there is the positive, even if only for the moment. To comply, you must let yourself go of the analytical and let your emotions out to guide you.”

Seven was silent for a long time, “I feel this path is fraught with many dangers of emotional pain.”

Harry laughed, “And that’s why the teen years you had stolen are all about. Love can turn to hate. To open oneself up to love comes with the risk of rejection. No one can hurt you like a former lover. Still, the risk is worth taking. I think we wizards never realized how lucky we were for the Patronus. To be able to have a physical manifestation of what love can feel like. To help give us a reason to keep trying after heartbreak. It’s a goal worth going after.”

“I believe that it may take me time to be able to process this lesson,” Seven said. She sounded a bit defeated. “I am concerned that Commander Torres might see my inability to comply as a sign I am not interested in her.”

Harry laughed again, “And we’re right back into teenage angst. Worrying if your partner likes you the way you like them seems to be a universal thing. Give B’Elanna some credit. I doubt she’d be anything _but_ surprised if a former drone _didn’t_ take a while to get back into the swing of things.”

Seven mulled that over. For all her volatility, B’Elanna Torres was an engineer of the highest caliber. She would understand the need for test runs and trials.

“Seven, I’d like to do something to you to give you a better understanding of what I’ve been saying. It will require that intimacy I warned of,” Harry said.

“What will you do?” Seven asked.

Harry smiled his lop-sided grin, “I’m going to kiss you like I mean it.”

Seven’s eyebrow went up in surprise, “I doubt you have that level of interest in me to accomplish this goal.”

Harry chuckled, “True, but the thing is when you’re kissing someone with your eyes closed, it’s easy to fill that moment with the feelings from another. Trust me. I have a lot of pent up desire I never got to express. It will be real enough.”

Seven pondered this for a moment before nodding, “It would be illogical to come to you for help and then reject it. I will comply.”

Harry smiled, “Computer, dim lights by 50% and set my ‘do not disturb’ level to Extreme.”

A male voice responded as the lights dimmed, “Emergency only contact protocols are now in effect.”

Seven’s eyebrow rose in surprise again, “You gave your computer the voice of the Seron photonic Dejaren?”

Harry shrugged, “In repairing his code, I ended up talking with him for hours at a time. I found I liked his voice. Voyager’s computer reminds me too much of how my friend Hermione sounded when she was nagging me and Ron for not doing our homework on time.”

He reached up towards Seven’s head and then paused, “May I?”

Seven had flinched away but after a moment, nodded.

Instead of taking her head in his hand as she expected, Harry began to unknit Seven’s tightly braided hair. He smiled when the blonde tresses final cascaded down onto her shoulders. “There! Sort of hard to connect with positive emotions when your head is wrapped up tighter than a goblin’s contract. Computer! Play _romantic mix 1_ on shuffle.”

Seeing the odd look Seven gave him, Harry chuckled, “Music helps. Too often people feel that silence needs to be filled. When you have music, it is easier to just let the moment play out without words. This is music I like to play when I’m wanting to cherish certain memories.”

A few minutes went by as the pair sat on the bed and listened to the music. It didn’t have words but Seven felt herself starting to understand what Harry meant. The music was helping her feel her emotions better.

Slowly Harry reached out and his hand gently onto the nape of Seven’s neck. She couldn’t help but shiver at the touch. So different and yet so similar to B’Elanna’s touch. Harry’s eyes locked with hers. Seven had heard so many others comment about Harry’s eyes. Peering into their green depths, Seven began to understand why they had made such comments. Various emotions swirled in those green eyes.

However, Seven was mindful of what Harry had said as he slowly moved forward. Her eyes fluttered close before their lips made contact. At first, Seven could not help but have her analytical side analyze the moment. To compare and contrast it with similar moments with B’Elanna. But Seven found that analysis begin to slip away as that very analysis began to show how enjoyable the experience was.

Her encounters with B’Elanna were almost always high energy events. The half-Klingon threw herself into sex like she was going into battle. With little experience to go by, Seven had followed her lead. This passivity encouraged B’Elanna to try harder to evoke a response from her. Seven had to heal many bites and scratches after such nights.

As Harry’s tongue began to slowly caress her own and his fingers gently massaged the back of her neck, Seven found herself falling into the moment. If B’Elanna was a raging fire of passion, Harry was a slow burn which gave her a glow of warmth but with little in expectations of what was to come next. Harry seemed to be lost in the moment just as he said he would.

Seven leaned into the kiss and she shifted so that she was pressed more tightly against Harry’s chest. She was beginning to understand how ‘present’ Harry was. His kiss was deep and languid. Even when he broke the kiss to nuzzle her neck before returning to the kiss, it was done slowly and reverently.

“You know, I really expected you to smell more like an alcove,” Harry murmured as he nuzzled her neck again by her ear. “Yet you have a nice scent. Almost earthy. It’s quire pleasant.”

Seven realized that she too was enjoying the scent coming off Harry. This was her first direct contact with a human male since her last day with her family before the Borg came. There was definitely a different energy than when she was with B’Elanna. She found it not only to be pleasant but also becoming erotic.

Harry must have begun to feel the same as his other hand had begun to caress her back. He began to lean into the kiss as well which was quickly turning more heated.

Minutes of such play went by before Harry’s hand began to become wander into more pleasurable areas. Seven knew he had to feel how hard her nipples were. She’d learned early with B’Elanna how truly sensitive they were. So, when Harry’s hand brushed up and against one breast, she moaned into Harry’s mouth.

Harry pulled back with a slight smile, “Well this lesson has gone south. I think we’re going to have sex now. How does that sound to you?”

Seven found herself nodding a few times as she almost stuttered out, “Yes, that sounds very agreeable.”

Whereas she and B’Elanna usually shed their uniforms quickly, Harry undressed her even as he slowly took off his own clothes. Seven shivered at how much just the feeling of Harry’s hands caressing her made her blood sing. She began to realize that maybe B’Elanna did not have much experience in the type of love-making Harry was doing to her. While their sexual encounters were filled with electric, sexual energy, this slow dance seemed just as charged. Perhaps B’Elanna was asking her help to achieve such a state? It was difficult to think on as Harry’s ministrations were distracting on a basic, animal level.

The sexual dance went on and Seven found she’d lost track of time. Harry seemed willing to set the pace and Seven responded as best she could. It became apparent to her, however, that Harry was seemingly getting just as much enjoyment given her pleasure as she was in feeling it.

Indeed, Harry’s face was a picture of a satisfied smile as he gazed up from between her legs after bringing her to a most satisfying oral climax. Their eyes met and Harry’s eyes seem to ask her a question that she responded to by opening her legs wider.

Harry moved on top of her but paused. “Are you sure about this Seven? If there is one thing about the Borg is they are all about violating you with long, appendages injecting you with a foreign substance. We don’t have to do this if it feels rushed.”

Seven blinked at this. She realized that at once Harry was making a joke even as he was being deadly serious. While B’Elanna had finger-fucked her during their first and subsequent trysts, this felt different. She could feel the tip of Harry’s hard penis against her mons. His body ready to penetrate hers. She found herself feeling grateful to be asked a question she didn’t know she wanted to be asked.

Still, Harry had said to let her emotions go and right now, as it often happened with B’Elanna, lust was winning out. “Yes, I do desire it.”

Harry began kissing her again and slowly moved his hips until he was finally able to get the right angle to penetrate her. Seven didn’t gasp, but it did feel so much different than she had been expecting. Soon, however, as Harry’s pace picked up, she lost interest in trying to analyze her feelings and just lost herself to the moment.

**OoOoO**

Seven slowly awoke to find herself being spooned by Harry Potter. It was a satisfying feeling given their height differences that it was her who spooned B’Elanna. Still, she ran a diagnostic on herself. She knew that there were rarely used controls in all drones to engage if certain parameters were met. She had a vague, unsettling memory of such a thing happening to her but she could not access the memory in question for some unknown reason. During her next regeneration cycle, she would do a full scan to be sure.

It occurred to her how Harry had said the Borg had stolen not only her going through puberty but also the so-called teen years. She had, after all this time, finally gone ‘all the way’ as humans were wont to say in regard to a basic reproductive act. Not that she had to worry about that and Harry had said, due to his connection to his own altered nanoprobes, could control his own spermatozoa to keep impregnation from happening.

Seven managed to unentangle herself from Harry without waking him. After using the facilities, she found herself looking at herself in the mirror. By the standards of almost all sentient beings, she now was a fully adult woman. She did not feel different enough to feel as if she’d somehow crossed a threshold but then again, most females didn’t spend their formative years in a Borg maturation chamber.

She left the bathroom to find Harry sitting up on the bed, a contented smile on his face. “How are you doing, Seven?”

Seven gave a small nod, “I seem to have weathered your lesson without complications. I do believe that you have given me more than enough to work with. I am much more confident I can now be closer to giving B’Elanna what she has asked for.”

“Well I’d like to thank you as well. For all that I’ve lived an exceedingly long time, I actually have had a mere handful of lovers other than my wife. Most of those were just heated sex to deal with living through an incredibly terrible time. A time when you just wanted to blot everything out and just enjoy the touch of another. A passionless passion if you will. Tonight was the first night in a long, long time where I had sex that had some meaning to it. So again, thank you.”

“It does raise again the query from Commander Torres. Even with what Kes did to me, I am suspicious of how well I am integrating back to my human side. With my going through the maturation chamber process, it is far more likely that I would be even less likely to revert than a standard drone assimilated in adulthood,” Seven said evenly.

Harry shrugged, “All too true. However, that’s something to deal with at another time. Instead, how about we try doing it in the shower?” Harry suggestively waggled his eyebrows.

Before Seven could agree, the computer interrupted, “A priority request from Commodore Janeway is pending. Do you wish to accept?”

Harry stood up, “Hit me!”

“Captain Potter,” Janeway’s voice said from a speaker by his desk. Harry couldn’t help but roll his eyes at this. He was sure that she called him that just to spite him for his lecture of her about buying into the captain’s myth.

“Yes Commodore, what can I do for you?” Harry asked.

“We have a situation. Long-range sensor found a damaged Hirogen ship so Tahl took the Equinox to check it out. We’ve rendezvoused with that ship. There is only one survivor of his hunting party. Worse, is his prey is apparently on Voyager. To make matters even worse, I’ve just heard from Tuvok that it is a member of Species 8472.”

Harry looked at the clock on his desk and realized that he and Seven hadn’t just napped after their sex but had slept over six hours. He was surprised, if gratified, that Veer had not overridden his _do not disturb_ order. “Alright. I take it you want my help in magically finding your intruder. I know the Borg had trouble tracking 8472 on their cubes so I’m betting you can’t find them at all.”

“You’d be right,” Janeway agreed. “We’re about to have a captain’s meeting in 10 minutes.”

“I’ll be there,” Harry said and with a wave of his hand cut the connection.

Seven was looking tense, “I will assist you in tracking the Species 8472 entity.”

Harry shook his head, “No, you’re going to go to an alcove and regenerate.” Before Seven could disagree, Harry shook his head, “Seven, as you said, you just went through another intense, emotional event. And you’ve missed most of your regeneration cycle. I know sleeping isn’t going to kill you but if you want to help, you need to be fully charged. Besides, given my magic, either it’s going to still take quite some time to find one entity on a ship the size of Voyager or I’m going to find it right away. Either way, you need to regenerate.”

Seven looked rebellious before she seemed to deflate, “You are correct. I would be more efficient after regeneration.”

“Good. You also need to regenerate here. I know that won’t be as efficient but given you, Veer and Alars are the most Borg of all the former drones, I think it prudent to keep you here for now and off Voyager till we know more. Given how the fight with the Borg went, I doubt this entity would try to board a ship that has the most Borg like signature.”

Seven thought on this and nodded, “That is indeed a tactically sound course of action.”

“Good, let’s get you to the regeneration bay,” Harry said as he gestured to the door. They quickly made their way to room in question. Veer was at one of the computer stations which meant Alars had the bridge. That probably explained why he and Seven hadn’t been interrupted earlier.

“Veer, can you hold off regeneration for at least two hours? I want to lessen the time you and Seven are regenerating.”

Veer made a dismissive gesture with one of his mechanical arms, “I am operating well within tolerances. I can easily forgo regeneration long enough for Seven to undergo a full cycle and thus only have one regeneration ongoing at a time.”

Harry nodded, “Even better!” He gestured towards where the regeneration alcoves were. There were three. One for Alars and the other for Veer with the last being designated as a spare. It was this one that Seven took. She settled in but before she could begin her cycle, Harry leaned in and kissed her quickly but passionately, “Sweet dreams, Seven.”

She found herself cracking a slight smile before she intoned, “Computer! Activate regeneration cycle!”

Harry watched her slide into the regenerative sleep. She looked so peaceful. So different from her normal, Hermione-like intensity. That and she looked damned fine in and out of that catsuit.

Harry felt his cock stir and he chastised himself. Hunting one of 8472 was certainly not the time to be like the horny teenager he never got to be. Seven wasn't the only one who had much of his childhood and teen years tainted or stolen.

He turned to Veer, “Stay sharp. I’m going hunting.” He apparated away with barely a sound leaving Veer to turn back to running diagnostics on the shield array Alars had repaired earlier in his duty shift. After a moment, Veer thought about the situation and activated more sensor protocols. All over the Phoenix, electronic and other ‘eyes’ kept watch while Seven slipped into a pleasant dream filled with sunlight, a forest and long-lost friends.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** : Special thanks to guest reviewer _L-Dawg_ who caught my honest mistake of forgetting that Suder was a Betazoid and not a Bajoran.

Also, something I hadn’t realized till a few days ago is that both Korath and Ventrys are victims of the _Augment Virus_ so they’d look far more human as seen in _The Original Series_ as laid out in _Deep Space 9_.

I also had to go back and make a correction to chapter 5 given ENS Steinbeck should have been Sternbach as seen in this chapter. In fact, I have to go back and update a lot of various things. For example, Tsmir’s race has been two (maybe three) different ones. That and I kept forgetting that certain people I wanted to be Elasian I had as Troyans given the name of the Star Trek: TOS episode was _Elaan of Troyus_ because she was being wed to a Troyan from Troyus.

Please feel free to PM me when you think I’ve made an error. AU or not, it’s easy to make mistakes. Just be aware that given the change in intercepting Equinox early, I can do episodes out of order and will. That’s not a mistake but just author fiat.

 **CREW** : Again, I really try not to create Original Characters when I can just use existing ones even if they are just a name on a screen. However, I also don’t create new races either. For those who never seen _Star Trek: The Animated Series_ , Veer is an Edosian like Lieutenant Arex. So if you want to know what he looks like, either go to the Memory Alpha website or just google LT Arex.

 **STARSHIPS** : People have been asking for a breakdown of the ships. I wish I could draw properly or had someone I could pay to do so (like with the uniforms) so my poor descriptions will have to do. Listed with each ship would be their “Alpha shift” team bridge crew with their original Star Fleet career track. I will just do the main ships for this chapter.

 **VOYAGER** : Little has changed on the ship (at this point in the story at least) except a series of cradles to carry the 10 Marauder fighters on the underside of the ship.

**Primary Crew**

Commander (P-Sci): Commodore Kathryn Janeway (Human Female)

XO (Ops): CDR Thomas Riker (Human Male - Jonathon Frakes w/a beard. For those who somehow missed it, Thomas Riker is a ‘clone’ of William Riker in that Riker was being beamed back to a ship and a double pattern was created to help get that done. However, one pattern ended up on the ship, the other went back to the planet. Shown in TNG and DS9)

Tactical (Tactical): LCDR Tuvok (Vulcan male)

Operations (Ops): Ensign Harry Kim (Human male – Janeway still keeping him close even though a JLT or SLT should be in this slot)

Engineering (Engr): SLT Susan Nicoletti (Female human – Has a Memory Alpha page)

Science (P-Sci): SLT Tridiva Mohindra: (Memory Core alpha has a dark picture of her. Instead think of her as looking like actress Freida Pinto)

Navigation (Tactical): SLT Ro Lauren (From TNG and DS9)

 **EQUINOX** : You can google what this ship looks like as well as there is the USS Rhode Island in the episode _Endgame_. However, it would look different in this story as a Nova class ship is 221 meters long while the new Equinox is closer to 245. Also, it has armor like Voyager had with Admiral Janeway’s additions. Although this armor looks a little bulkier and still has more lights and the like on the hull. Given the armor is Borg inspired, imagine it has a lot of that green Borg tint to it even though the ship is the same blue/grey all Federation ships use. Like Voyager, it has the cradle for the Marauder fighters underneath.

**Primary Crew**

Commander (N/A): Captain Tahl (Romulan male – Imagine Chow Yun Fat as a Romulan.)

XO: CDR Dhael (Romulan female - Think of the Robin Curtis version of Saavik but with the straight Romulan haircut)

Tactical: SLT Trevor Santos (Human male – He has a Memory Alpha Page – Former Maquis)

Operations (Ops): JLT Garth Tabor (Bajoran male – He has a Memory Alpha page; promoted as of this chapter and was a former Maquis. Like many characters, I gave Tabor a first name. Since my brother’s middle name is Tabor, I felt it appropriate to give this character his first name.)

Engineering (Engr): JLT Decius (Romulan Male – I’m going with the look of Sub-Commander Tal from the TOS episode _The Enterprise Incident_. Tal has his own Memory Alpha page)

Science (P-Sci): SLT Ventrys (Klingon female – Think Mara from the TOS episode _The Day of the Dove_ but having more of a forehead closer to B’Elanna’s. Google her image as you’ll get a better idea of what her uniform sort of looks like.

Navigation (Tactical): SLT Tom Paris. As of this chapter, not only has he regained his rank, but Tahl promoted him to Senior Lieutenant.


	12. Hunters - Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate._ ” **John F. Kennedy** – American politician and 35th President of the United States – 1917-1963

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 08-17-2020

_Commodore’s Log, Star Date 51163.1. The search for the 8472 we suspect has boarded Voyager has begun. I’ve moved the other ships away from Voyager to avoid the intruder from somehow escaping to one of the other ships. So far, we have little to show for our efforts. Even Harry’s magic has failed initially to find our stowaway. However, he believes this is due to the fact that Species 8472 is a being from a different dimension where the rules could be vastly different. Harry is working with the Doctor to review the information he gathered from Harry Kim when he was infected by the 8472 while on the away mission to the derelict Borg cube. Both are confident that Harry will be able to refine his ability to locate our intruder. I’ve ordered the few former drones serving on Voyager over to the Equinox just as Seven remains on the Phoenix. Now all we can do is wait as our search continues._

**XxXxX**

**MAINTENANCE JUNCTION BRAVO, SECTION 3, DECK 11, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 28, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51163.1**

Harry had to admit he was getting a bit brassed off.

Throughout the Eugenics War, Harry got used to having his magic be able to trump almost any problem he encountered. For once, he was really having to work at it and as such he was a bit cross with himself. Once again, he lamented how he had let Hermione do most of thinking for him back in school. Over the years this had come to bite them in the arse again and again.

Even with having access to some of the blood or whatever the 8472 was leaking hadn’t helped him magically detect the intruder and he was starting to think the best he could do was start creating detection wards that would alert him when tripped. Still, that only worked if the 8472 was on the move. And it ceded the initiative to it. Harry had learned his lesson during his fight with Voldemort that allowing your opponent to set the terms of the battle made winning that much harder.

“You know, Harry,” V’Lana said from where she and the two security types waited.

“Yes?” Harry asked.

“Maybe you’re going about this in the wrong way,” V’Lana said slowly. “You are having trouble detecting the 8472 because it’s so different. Okay, well shouldn’t that difference potentially affect the world around it?”

Harry took a second to see what she meant, “You mean since Fluidic Space is a whole different set of rules, that the 8472 might sort of destabilize things it comes in contact with?”

V’Lana nodded, “Why not? It might act like how radiation leaves a trace. In this case, instead of radiation it’s contact with matter not of this dimension. It is logical to believe it would leave some form of mark.”

“Well given I know my magic works on our universe’s stuff, I’m willing to give it a try,” Harry said as he crouched down. “Be back in a bit,” Harry said before apparating away.

V’Lana waited patiently while she began to search Voyager’s computer records of any unusual equipment failures or changes in environmental controls on her tricorder.

Harry popped back into the juncture with a smile, “Man you’re good! I’m going to have to see if it’s only reactions to its blood that is constant contact or if just being in an area for a bit works.”

He was lost in thought for a bit before he manifested the Elder Wand before creating a stand for the model of Voyager he had picked from the training room. He then cast a few spells on it before he was satisfied. While he had gotten so much better with magic, Harry knew this type of magic wasn’t his forte. When he was finally satisfied, Harry levitated it and with a wave of his wand, caused the model to separate such that there was space between every deck.

“What are you attempting?” V’Lana asked curiously. Harry rarely used magic and so seeing him using it so regularly in the search was proving to be an educational experience. In her long career, the Romulan-Vulcan-Human hybrid had seen a lot of things, but Harry’s magic was amazing to watch.

“A bit of sympathetic magic. I’m going to use a spell that will detect readings like I just took. This will be projected from where they are on the actual Voyager to the model,” Harry explained. He took a deep breath and focused his will on what he wanted, “ _ **Invenire Pertubatio!**_

A bluish pulse expanded, sphere-like, from Harry’s wand into and through the decks. After a brief pause, little points of red started to appear at various points on the bottom decks of the Voyager model.

“Gotcha!” Harry said with a satisfied smile.

**OoOoO**

“So, before we continue, I want to be quite clear what our end goal is,” Harry asked of the assembled officers. One of the things done while back at the Pit Stop had been to expand the conference room on Voyager to accommodate the ‘fleet council’ of important stakeholders. All the members were sitting at a round table with the center section empty except for a holo-projector.

“What do you mean, Harry,” Chakotay asked. Around the table, it was obvious that many in the felt the same confusion.

“I’m saying is before we confront this 8472, what is our end state? Shoot on sight? Capture and detain? Catch and release? I certainly hope we’re not just going to give it over to the Hirogen down in Sick Bay.”

“Certainly not!” Janeway said in a voice that was halfway between being shocked that Harry would think that was an option and that he might think she’d ever allow such to happen.

“Well I had to asked given I know from just the last half hour of talk that many of you would be just fine with the ‘dead on arrival’ option,” Harry said with a slight glare at Seven who did not show any indication how she felt about the rebuke.

“Still, as odious as it may be, what other option do we have?” Janeway asked. “We helped the Borg against its species. I doubt it is going to give in. And we do not have the capability to detain it.”

Seeing the nods from many around the table, Harry scowled, “So because it _may_ do something or that we can’t do something, we’re just going to execute it? Not feeling the Federation vibe here, people. Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but no matter what dimension it’s from, it is a wounded enemy combatant. Unless Starfleet has changed the Rules of War we humans have been using going back centuries, killing out of hand is against the regs.”

“Very well then, Captain Potter. Do not castigate us for our security concerns unless you have a viable alternative,” Commander Tahl said in the calm, even tone of his which hid what he was thinking about the matter at hand.

“As a matter of fact, I do have a good avenue we should pursue. I used sympathetic magic to narrow down where the 8472 is. I think I should be able to do something similar in using the dimensional resonance so that I could open a portal into Fluidic Space. Given this is a magical portal, it will hopefully be undetected given we’re only going to send a message through it. Given how Species 8472 reacted to Voyager being in their space, a physical probe might be seen in a similar, hostile light. That and we don’t have to use the graviton pulse you used before which might as well be a big sign saying, “Come get me!” to the Borg,” Harry pointed out.

“A message? Why type of message?” Chakotay asked as he leaned forward in anticipation. Harry could tell he was against terminating the 8472.

“Hey, come pick up your wounded,” Harry said simply.

“And you expect that they will take no other action? That is not only illogical but naïve,” Sakonna said with the cold haughtiness Vulcans were often reviled for.

Harry nodded, “Yes I do and you, of those present, are one of those who should understand why. We know from Kes and now Tuvok that Species 8472 communicates using some form of telepathy. Well, between myself, the Vulcans and Romulans, we’ve got our own battery of telepaths. My sympathetic magic can also be used to help transmit a message using our captured 8472 to send the telepathic message to its target. Now given it’s a telepathic message, the emotions can’t be faked. So as long as all of us are onboard with honestly wanting to do a battle hand-off, then that intent will come through. This gives us a chance to try again with First Contact. Need I remind you that we have no idea how distance works in Fluidic Space. It is possible that they could be attacking the Federation right now in retaliation for _Voyager_ helping the Borg. While a small risk, the consequences of not trying to ease tensions between us and Species 8472 are too high. If the Borg couldn’t stop Species 8472 without _Voyager’s_ specialized help, I highly doubt the Federation at war with the Dominion would last very long. I’d really hate for us to finally get home only to find it a wreck we would be responsible for.”

This was met with silence. Finally, Tuvok spoke up, “Species 8472 did say they were going to purge our galaxy.”

“Did they Tuvok?” Harry asked. “It’s what Kes felt they were saying. We’re talking about beings from a completely different dimension interacting mentally with beings from another completely different dimension. Can we say that Kes was accurately translating what they were saying? Can we risk not finding out one way or another?” Harry paused, “Plus, I know you all were very fond of Kes, but you have to admit that her powers were beginning to go into a state of flux. So I think Kes is not the most reliable of narrators in this case. It is highly likely they were saying they were going to purge the Borg from the galaxy.”

“I can’t comment on this Kes, but more to the point, Captain Potter’s plan is a chance to show Starfleet we’ve not abandoned our principles out here,” Commissioner Ransom said. “I know I got _very_ close to abandoning the Prime Directive and other general orders many times when things got rough. It’s a hard choice when it’s your principles or the lives of your crew so I’m not going to gainsay Commodore Janeway’s decisions. That being said, I agree with Harry that in the principles we took an oath to uphold, it is the right thing to do. Even if we never make it back home, as long as we wear the Starfleet uniform, we need to act on the principles that uniform represents.”

“The right thing to do? Is it right to risk our entire fleet and everyone in it just to say, ‘I hope you didn’t mean it about killing all of us?’” Riker scoffed.

Harry stood up, “First off, we do still have some of those nanotech torpedoes. It’s not like we can’t protect ourselves. But that’s beside the point. I was born into war. I killed for the first time when I was 11. I didn’t mean it but that doesn’t change the fact that my actions led to the death of a professor helping the enemy. I was faced with a lot of choices, most of them had a choice between bad and worse. This certainly didn’t change during the Eugenic Wars. I had to make a lot of moral compromises to try and save people I thought could continue the spirit of humanity. A lot of blood, innocent or otherwise is on my hands due to those choices. Through it all, I always remembered something a great wizard told me. ‘ _One should always do what is right over what is easy_.’ It would be easy to find this 8472, kill it and move on. But it’s not the _right_ choice. We have an opportunity to talk instead of to kill. This is _exactly_ the type of moral choices you are supposed to make if you believe in your Federation and Starfleet creed. You can also bet that regardless of Kathy here being in the hot seat with little support, if we get back to the Alpha Quadrant early, that the Starfleet admirals will be all over her for her decisions. She’ll get all sorts of congratulations for getting her people home just to be tossed into prison. And don’t think that can’t possibly happen. I think we’re all aware enough of how bureaucracies work.”

Again, there was silence.

Harry sighed, “And if you’re wedded to going with what is easy, what is safest for your crews, then fine. I’ll do it alone. If we can capture this 8472 alive, you can take the fleet and leave. I’ll muddle through by myself. I know a few of the crew who will stick with me.”

Riker snapped his fingers, “Sounds like a viable plan to me. Soon as we capture the intruder, we can be on our way and leave you to it.”

Seated next to Tahl, his XO Dhael scowled, “We do _not_ leave anyone behind. Maybe abandoning your comrades is acceptable to Starfleet, but not to us! We former drones owe our rebirth to Harry. Do not forget that the bulk of the weapons used against Species 8472 came from nanoprobes taken from _our_ bodies! I realize you’ve been fighting a war in the Alpha Quadrant, Commander Riker, and so are not as invested in this, but I assure you that many of the crew would not accept just leaving Harry while we sneak away like a thief in the night. Her voice was as cold as the vacuum of space.

“No one is being left behind. Still, this is a huge risk. I made a unilateral decision the last time. This time, after we capture the intruder, we will put it to a vote,” Janeway said. She looked to Harry. “Is that acceptable to you?”

Harry nodded, “I’m confident that with all that the members of this fleet have gone through, they will not vote to run away from their principles.”

“We shall see, won’t we Captain Potter?” Sakonna said in a tone that showed she believed the opposite.

**OoOoO**

“I must reiterate that I find this course of action to be highly dangerous with little or no chance of success,” Seven said archly as she followed Harry towards the next site to check for the wayward 8472. With them was Ensign Vorik and Technician First Class Yin along with two crewmen acting as security.

“Seven, I was doing highly dangerous things with little to no chance of success over 300 years before you were born and yet I’m still here,” Harry said evenly as he slowly waved the Elder Wand from side to side. “Look, I know you feel strongly on this, but you know what? The Fleet Council has voted on this course and so I would expect you, the one who likes to harp on Borg efficiency, would bow to the will of our Collective. So, like I told our Hirogen guest, it’s out of your hands now.”

Seven scowled which he ignored. They continued on for a while before his wand began to vibrate slightly. Harry stopped and motioned for Vorik and Yin to his side, “Okay, I think we’re close enough to try to make contact. When you’re ready.”

Neither the Vulcan nor the Romulan said anything. Both closed their eyes and cleared their minds. Finally, both reached out a hand which Harry took. While his initial lessons with Snape had been a disaster, Harry had later gone on to become a skilled secludomenser as well becoming an expert in lectiomension. However, since the later was best with eye-contact, Harry mostly lent his magical power to boost the natural esper talents of his partners.

There was a moment of silence before all three jolted slightly. Vorik hissed in pain while Yin stuttered out, “It’s hurt. It’s in so much pain!”

Harry opened his eyes and dropped the other’s hands from his, “Okay, it’s showtime folks. I want you all to hang back. Both Kim and Chakotay saw how fast an 8472 can move. Even if it’s hurt, it might panic.”

“You are in danger of becoming infected like Ensign Kim was, Captain Potter,” Vorik said as he rubbed his side. It was where the 8472 was wounded and Vorik still felt a ghost of that pain.

Harry chuckled, “Don’t worry about me. I’ve already got my tame nanotech prepped with what I learned from curing Kim. I’m the last one here who has to worry which is why I want you folks to stay back.”

Harry moved away from the group towards the hatch that would lead him into a Jeffries Tube and hopefully to the wounded alien. He touched his comm-badge, “Harry to Janeway.”

“Go ahead Harry,” Janeway replied from the bridge.

“I’m pretty sure I’ve found our lost lamb. I’m about to enter the Jefferies Tube and try and make contact. I’ve got my team on as back-up to lessen the risk to them. I can apparate away if things go pear-shaped,” Harry said as debated going in invisible or not.

“Understood. Good luck, Harry,” Janeway said.

Harry laughed, “Luck is my super-power, Kathy. Potter out.” He touched his comm-badge again, “Alars, I’m in position so beam over GO-4.”

“Beaming now,” Alars responded.

In haze of scintillating green, the small scout droid appeared. Harry visually checked the droid before asking, “Zim? Are you linked in?”

A voice that sound similar to the Doctor’s voice came from a small speaker on one side of the droid, “Link-up has been established. Testing comms. Alpha, Beta, Gamma.”

Harry nodded as his earpiece repeated it, “Audio link is good.”

Zim was his newest member of the Phoenix crew. He was essentially a copy of the Doctor’s programming with more of the Doctor’s own changes enhanced more toward ops. In a sense, Zim was the adventurous side of the Doctor. Which was ironic given Zim hadn’t bothered to manifest even when the holo-projectors on the Phoenix would allow it. Zim preferred to remain online at all times within the holo-matrix. He was working on the issue of what it meant to be the type of being he and the Doctor were. Still, Zim was also tasked to monitor the fighters during combat. He could remotely monitor and over-ride the droids if needed or even link in and direct them like he was going to do with the GO-4 scout.

“Okay Zim, your primary mission is just to provide a video feed for the team here. Do not engage and let the droid get smashed rather than take any actions that could be seen as aggressive.”

Harry touched the door controls causing the hatch to open, “Nice and slow, Zim.” He waited for the droid to get about two meters ahead before turning and giving a jaunty salute before fading from view.

His team, as well as others on the bridge of the various ships, watched feed as the droid slowly made its way down the cramped tube. Harry never could understand why Voyager was like this Mass wasn’t as big of an issue for 24th century ships so why they didn’t make these regular corridors instead of forcing engineers to crawl around like babies to get to various areas of the ship? It’s not like it would add that much to the over-all size of the ship.

He continued to crawl, following GO-4 through another hatch until suddenly the droid stopped and sat down. “Contact!” came from his earpiece. “The 8472 is leaning against the next hatch junction. It seems to be in a bad way. There is a significant amount of fluid around it.”

“Has it reacted to you yet?” Harry whispered as stopped moving.

“It is difficult to tell,” Zim responded.

“Okay, I’m coming up,” Harry said as he resumed moving. In a minute he was parallel to the droid. As Zim had said, the 8472 seemed to be just lying and seemingly gasping for air. It’s great bulk barely fit into the tube. Even invisible as he was, Harry noted that the alien looked over as he moved up. Perhaps it had been ignoring the droid as just part of the ship. As good as the Cloak was, who knew what senses a being from Fluidic Space might have?

The 8472 didn’t do anything else so finally Harry faded into view. The 8472 moved its head slightly to get a better look at Harry.

Harry raised his hands in a surrender gesture to show he held no weapons. He waited till the injured alien made eye-contact. When it did, Harry pushed the feeling of his intent through a type of lectiomension not often used. Magical telepathy didn’t exist, or at least any hint of it had been lost over time. Still, with eye-contact, it was possible to push one’s own’s impressions and emotions over to the target. Harry figured that while they came from different dimensions, mind to mind contact was probably the best bet.

The 8472 seem to squint but didn’t radiate the hostility Harry had expected. Given what the logs had said, Species 8472 felt disgust at contact from non-Fluidic Space beings. On the other hand, this alien didn’t have a lot of options. It was enough that Harry kept eye contact and manifested the Elder Wand, “ _ **Expecto Patronum!**_ ”

The alien reared back a bit in surprise but otherwise made no other movement as Harry urged his Patronus forward. He held it in place, letting the warmth of it fill the cramped tube. Finally, he let it fade. “Okay there. How about you let me take a look at you?” Harry said in an even voice.

The 8472 didn’t react but Harry hadn’t expected it to. It just sat there watching him but seem far less agitated than when he first revealed himself.

“Zim, come up slowly and let’s start doing some scans,” Harry ordered.

“Acknowledged,” Zim said as GO-4 moved a bit closer and deployed sensor probes. Together they began to test what could be done to help the alien. After about 20 minutes, Harry felt he could probably help with the wound but it was obvious that just being in normal space was causing the alien to slowly degrade on a fundamental level.

Harry coughed to get the alien’s attention. It had closed its eyes after it was apparent what Harry and the droid were doing. It had let out what sounded like a sigh of relief when Harry had done some basically magical healing spells used on wounds like it had. It opened its eyes and Harry projected a question of whether being in fluid of some kind might help.

He spent a few minutes sending various images over before the alien made a hand gesture which seemed to imply it understood. It then sent back some images Harry knew he didn’t have the science background to understand. Luckily, that’s what mind-melds were for.

**OoOoO**

“It’s disgusting but it seems to like it,” Ensign Kim said as he took some readings of the tank. After healing up the 8472 as best as he could, Harry had returned and had Vorik do a mind-meld with him. Ensign Vorik easily recognized various elements that the alien had projected into Harry’s mind. Now it was floating in a large tank in the shuttle bay. The tank was filled with a fluid made up of various things which would make very sick any human deciding to take a swim in it, if it didn’t kill them outright

“If it keeps its wounds from getting worse, I don’t care how nasty it is,” Janeway said as she and Torres came up over from overseeing the necessary materials being pumped into the tank. She turned to Harry who was off to one side, “Well Captain Potter, the first part is done. What’s next?”

Harry frowned, “Well that’s up to you, Commodore. I could do the next part from the Phoenix and the rest of the fleet could be off a ways. Or we could do it from here given the Phoenix still is going to read like a Borg like ship. So how we want to present ourselves is up to you. Given their over-all strength, if they send a lot of those bio-ships, they could wipe us out even with casualties. But do we want to go with “We’ve got nothing to hide” or “We’re taking precautions?” posture?”

Janeway nodded, “I’ve already discussed this with the others. While there is a very vocal minority, the consensus is to be cautious with the fleet arrayed as best we can with the fighters out but beyond that be on a low-level yellow alert. I don’t know how much Species 8472 can pick up on emotions from non-telepaths but I’d rather not have the fleet on edge more than needed in case they pick up on that.”

Harry nodded, “Sounds prudent. Well I should be able to get a gateway open in about two hours and once that’s open, well the signal will be easy to send. How long it takes for them to respond is beyond me.”

“Let’s hope they’re still being vigilant since it hasn’t been that long since Borg tried to access Fluidic Space,” Torres pointed out.

Harry smiled, “Yes, I do hope they are practicing ‘constant vigilance’ for it will make this go faster.

**OoOoO**

“I still can’t understand that while it can eat what its floating in, doesn’t that mean it’s also voiding into that as well?” Specialist James Morrow asked with a look of disgust on his face.

Tapping in changes to the forcefield covering the shuttle bay, Junior Lieutenant Kashimuro Nozawa chuckled, “Best not to think too much on it. I doubt their bodies eat and secrete like ours do. Besides, the last time one of the Romulans were down here, they didn’t report that it was unhappy.”

Morrow harrumphed at that as he adjusted the tank temperature. They had found that the alien liked the fluid to go through a warming and cooling trend over an 18-hour cycle. Many had wondered if this might be an equivalent of a day and night cycle for the 8472. Even though it had been 3 days since the signal had gone out, little was known about their guest.

A rush of motion made Morrow yelp and pull away from the tank. The alien was facing the ‘open’ shuttle bay and had its hand against the side of the tank. Morrow looked over to the Nozawa, “Sir?”

The JLT touched his comm badge, “Nozawa to the bridge.”

“Braga here; go ahead,” came the voice of the Beta Shift commander.

“Sir, the 8472 just perked up something fierce and is looking out the shuttle bay door. Maybe it’s people are coming?” Nozawa said in a tight voice. Everyone in the fleet knew the risk they were taking.

“Acknowledged. Bridge out,” Braga said. He touched his own badge, “Bridge to Janeway. Commodore? We may have incoming.”

A moment later Janeway came out of her ready room, “What do we have?”

CDR Braga shook his head, “Not much right now. Lieutenant Nozawa just called in that the 8472 is acting like it’s interested in something that…”

“Commander! Reading a large gravimetric distortion opening up behind us!” came a slightly panicked cry from the science station.

“Show me!” Janeway ordered even as she turned to Braga, “Go to yellow alert.”

Alarms went off as the main screen switched to the camera angle down the length of the ship as seen from the impulse engines. Sure enough, a large, bluish-yellow distortion was forming about 5,000 kilometers from the ship. As the bridge crew watched, three bio-ships came through in rapid succession. One took station facing the Equinox while the other stayed closer to the portal. The final ship slowly moved towards Voyager before finally stopping only a few hundred kilometers away.

Janeway looked down at her Number Two, “Brannon, take it soft but don’t hesitate to attack if needed.”

CDR Braga nodded, “Where will you be?”

“Hopefully making first contact. Computer! Beam me to the shuttle bay!”

**OoOoO**

Janeway materialized onto the transporter pad onboard the Delta Flyer. She quickly made her way out to find that the ‘esper’ team along with Harry were already there. She noticed that Seven was as well and wasn’t sure if she should send the former drone away or not. “Status?” Janeway asked as she came up onto the group.

Harry shook his head, “Nothing as of yet. Our friend here seems excited but we’re not getting much from the bio-ships.

Janeway’s comm badge beeped, “Commodore? We’re getting a sub-space message from one of the bio-ships.”

“Send it down here,” Janeway ordered. “Shall we?” she asked Harry who just smirked as they made their way over to a station with a video link. She activated the screen and after a moment of odd static, an image of a humanoid came up. Humanoid was the best description. Janeway felt it was almost as if a mannikin had melted. For some reason, Janeway was reminded of the old groundskeeper Boothby at Starfleet…if Boothby could survive being melted a bit that is. Still the eyes of were bright. “This is Commodore Janeway. I take it you have received our message and are here to take your wounded soldier off our hands?”

The being frowned, “I have to say we were very surprised to get your message given you were instrumental in helping the Borg.”

Janeway nodded, “That is true. However, much of what happened was done quickly with little in the way of looking at the larger view. The ships you see are all the ships that we know of from our part of space. We are decades away from home. At the time, from the info I had at the time, it was felt that your people were a bigger threat. However, later I was to learn that your people were only attacking Borg vessels or planets. Therefore, I acted rashly and I hope that returning your wayward soldier is a small token of our apology for those actions. I can only say that in my defense that we had gotten a telepathic message that implied your forces were going to purge our galaxy of all life.”

The humanoid pursed it lips, “I find this hard to believe.”

Harry stepped up, “Sir, I was connected to the Borg at the time. I have a special circumstance which keeps the Borg from assimilating me. At the time, I had been trapped on a Borg cube for a long time. I was able to jump to Voyager before your ships destroyed the cube I was stuck on. Prior to that, I had examined the Borgs records of the fight between them and your people. So, I knew that your forces were only attacking Borg targets. Voyager, on the other hand, did not have that capability to obtain this knowledge. Also, the rapid advance of your forces put an enormous pressure on the captain and crew which made it harder to step back and try to see a larger view.”

“And so you admit you wrongly helped created weapons of mass destruction for the Borg?” For all its melted face, the sneer came through just fine.

“Yes and no,” Harry said. “I have taken Commodore Janeway to task for her jumping the gun but as she said earlier, we’re all that we know of of our people in this part of space. Much of it we only found recently. So, Voyager was alone and trapped between the Borg and your forces which seemed about to attack any and all life forms in our galaxy. So Janeway made a decision that turned out to be incorrect. I myself am also to blame. One of her crew had come in contact with one of your people and was dying. Before I was in a place for open communication, they requested nanoprobes of me. I gave them thinking, wrongly, that it was for more medical usage. Unfortunately for me, I was not fully aware and being severed from the place I had spent over two centuries had been jarring. I should have known better and realized that the nanoprobes were for weapons. But, again, I was dealing with my own issues at the time. Still, I will not deny those weapons would not have been deployed as quickly without my inadvertent help. It is why I have been actively working to return your soldier to you. To do the right thing but also to explain ourselves to your people. To show we acknowledge we did wrong and to show that our people are not against yours.”

“Our sensors show many Borg among you. Why should we trust you?” the being asked after a moment of reflection.

“They are not drones any longer,” Janeway explained. “One of the things that occupied Captain Potter at that time was he had been collecting drones taken from our part of space by the Borg and curing them. Except for two cases where removing most of their Borg implants would kill them, the only other former drone we have went through a maturation chamber as a child and thus she too has more Borg components that, at this time, cannot be removed.”

The being was silent for a moment. “Very well. Lower your force-field and we will take our pilot back from you. Do nothing. We will speak to the pilot and see what he has to say.”

“Understood. Give us a moment to clear the bay,” Janeway said with relief obvious in her tone.

“You have five of your minutes,” the being said and switched off.

“Computer; public address to shuttle bay,” Janeway ordered.

“Public address active,” the computer promptly replied.

“This is Commodore Janeway. All personnel are to immediately leave the shuttle bay as fast as possible. We have four minutes. If you cannot make it, board one of the shuttle craft.” Janeway touched her badge to sever the link. “Want to hang around and watch from the Flyer?”

Harry nodded, “Beats trying to hoof it to the auxiliary bridge.”

The shuttle bay cleared out quickly leaving only Harry and Janeway. Harry had briefly gone up to the tank and sent a mental good-bye to the 8472 before joining the commodore on the Flyer.

With a klaxon warning, the force-field keeping the bay pressurized went down after the atmosphere had been vented out of the bay. Harry and Janeway watched as the tank was enveloped in an oddly colored tractor beam. It quickly brought the tank out of Voyager and onto the nearest bio-ship.

The shuttle bay doors shut and the bay began to repressurize. Janeway had a link from the main sensors being sent to her screen on the Flyer, “How long do you think they’ll need?” Janeway asked.

Harry shrugged, “Depends. I don’t know how fast the communicate. That and if my old school nurse is any indication of how medical types are throughout the universe, I figure they’ll want to have its wounds treated first.”

Janeway nodded, “That sounds about right.” She activated the Flyers’ comm, “Bridge, any changes from the bio-ships?”

“No commodore,” Braga replied. “They are still holding steady in their position. While our scans can’t penetrate their hulls, they do not seem to be at any sort of enhanced readiness.”

“They know they can probably destroy us before we could fire,” Janeway muttered to herself. “Stand down from general yellow alert. Keep all essential combat systems on yellow as it may be a while before they can treat and interrogate their pilot. I’ll be up to my ready room presently. Janeway out.”

“So, I guess it’s poker night on _Voyager_ for now?” Harry said with a lop-sided grin.

“Speak for yourself. I intend to go back to the book I was reading or maybe a nap. I’d rather not have to deal with Species 8472 in the middle of the night, half asleep.”

“Well given I barely sleep, I’ll take first watch as it were,” Harry offered as they both made their way out of the Flyer and towards the nearest turbo-lift.

**XxXxX**

** DINING HALL, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 26, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE ** **51167.3**

“You wanted to see me?” B’Elanna asked as she came up to his table with her tray of food.

Harry looked up and waved her down. He had long finished his own meal and was simply drinking tea. “Yes I did. However, I have a delicate issue to discuss and I’m not sure the mess hall is the best place for it.”

B’Elanna waved his concerns away with an irritated gesture. “I’m a busy person. Just because we’re still waiting on what Species 8472 is going to say doesn’t change my workload. Do some of your magic-man moves to keep eavesdroppers away and we’ll be fine. So long as you don’t mind me eating while you talk.”

Harry took a sip of his tea before choosing some topics related to the Phoenix that were important but not what he wanted to go over with the half-Klingon while she was eating. Even so, he did throw up a _Murmuro Vox_ spell to be safe. B’Elanna picked up on this as once she was done, she wiped her mouth of the remnants of the Shepherd Pie Harry had conned Neelix into making for the evening meal and pointedly said, “I highly doubt that was the sensitive topic you wanted to discuss.”

Harry shook his head, “No it wasn’t. I know you are a straight talker so I’ll get right to it. Seven came to me the other day because she had concerns about your relationship. She felt troubled that you were asking for something she didn’t feel capable of giving. So she asked for my help.”

If B’Elanna had eyebrows, they would have raised up in surprise, “Seven asking for help? That’s a new one. And what was I asking for?”

“During one of your times together, you told her to ‘kiss me like she meant it’ and Seven felt she lacked the quality to comply with that request. Now, I think I know why you might ask such a thing. You and I came from very different backgrounds but I know what it’s like to live with everyone having different expectations from you even as they ignore what you yourself say on the matter.”

“You got that damned right!” B’Elanna muttered as she took a sip from her coffee.

Harry grinned, “Like I said, I don’t think it takes much to make the jump into thinking you have abandonment issues like we’ve discussed before. So I could see what you were asking. Of course Seven has validation issues. She respects you like she respects the commodore so your opinions of her and about her are a big deal.”

B’Elanna mulled that for a bit, “Okay; I can see that. So why tell me all this? I mean I’m glad you feel you can talk to me about such things but one could argue that your breaking confidence with Seven in telling me.”

Harry sighed, “Well for all I tell you folks that things aren’t as different in the 24th Century as you might think, I am very much a product of mine. So while you may or may not think it a big deal, I feel better to tell you that in the process of trying to teach Seven how to better understand the feelings you want her to express I…”

B’Elanna waited a second before prompting, “You…what?”

Harry looked embarrassed and turned his face away. “Well I slept with Seven,” he said softly.

B’Elanna laughed at this. “You slept with Seven? How did that happen? You couldn’t even get an erection watching us have sex not to long ago! Not that Seven isn’t built for a tumble if you get my drift.”

Harry looked back with a curious look on his face, “I thought you’d be more upset about this.”

B’Elanna shrugged, “Oh I’m sure I’ll be angry about it later. Still, you wouldn’t be telling me if it wasn’t a sort of accident. So what happened?”

Harry looked confused. After a moment he blinked a bit before replying, “Well I was trying to show her how she needed to disconnect from her analytical brain and just be in the moment while kissing. I showed her what I meant. I told her to think of you and I was thinking of two women in my life that I should have been pursed. As you said, it hasn’t been that long since I was shut off from such things. Well, it came roaring back. Also, like you said, it’s not like Seven isn’t easy on the eyes. Actually, after sex, she brought up what you did about how she is like she is. She felt that after such intense sexual encounters with you and I, she shouldn’t be feeling the emotions she does without some Borg fail-safe kicking in. So we do need to pursue that sooner rather than later.

“So…intense sexual encounter, huh?” B’Elanna said with a sly grin. “You dog!”

Harry blushed to his roots, “Well if I was going to botch the lesson, I figured I might as well go all the way. Still, I took it slow to give Seven a different view of human sexual interaction. From a comment she made, your encounters are a bit more…volatile than how I do things.”

B’Elanna chuckled evilly but didn’t reply.

“Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads-up and not have her blurt it out it out at a bad time. I realize she’s trying to be better but we both know she’s even worse than a teenager in the clueless, tactless comment department. That and while I haven’t heard anything on the Fleet Rumor Mill, again I’d rather you heard it from me first. Especially since Seven sought me out because she wanted help in pleasing you,” Harry explained.

B’Elanna made a dismissive gesture, “Well it’s not like I haven’t gotten laid a bit along the way. Korath is interesting romp given we both know nothing is going to come of it. Hell, I’m almost tempted to let Tom talk me into a threesome with Treana. But then Maria might get involved and I probably traumatize the poor girl if I didn’t’ break her first.”

Harry chuckled, “I’d like to say you’re wrong but I think we both now I’d be lying. She does seem to be the quintessential ‘girl-next-door’ type. Still, I respect that she can get Tom to slow down a bit. That’s something no one has been able to do yet.”

Before B’Elanna could reply, both their comm badges beeped. “Torres here.”

“We’ve received a message from Species 8472 that they will speak to us soon,” came Tuvok’s voice. “All primary staff to their posts.”

Harry and B’Elanna shared a look as Harry hit his own comm-badge, “I take it this is about the message given what Tuvok just told B’Elanna?”

“Yes it is,” came Janeway’s voice. “I would like it if you could come to the bridge given we both were the main point of contact last time.”

“On my way,” Harry said. “Well again, don’t be too surprised if we get things settled that Seven might come knocking at your door. Of course you could always just jump her early and save her the trip.”

B’Elanna smirked as she got up from the table, “You’d like that wouldn’t you? Setting us up so you could be perving again from under that cloak of yours.”

Harry laughed, “Well I hadn’t planned on it but now that you’ve said it…” Harry laughed a bit harder at rude gesture Torres tossed his way as she walked towards main engineering.

**OoOoO**

Harry sat in the ‘counselor’ seat next to Janeway as both waited silently for the 8472 to make contact again. Riker was softly giving instructions to a crewmember who nodded and left the bridge. He looked over and sighed, “I know Starfleet duty is 90% waiting but after eight years of it being stranded on Nervala IV, I find I don’t have the patience for it.”

Harry nodded, “Try being stuck on a Cube, wedged between bulkheads for a century. Still, I guess it’s a good sign they are going to talk. Beats having them just haul off and attack us.”

Janeway nodded as well, “It is encouraging.”

SLT Susan Nicoletti turned from her science station, “Commodore, I’m picking up the resonance we’ve seen before they contact us…yes, communique coming in now.”

“On screen,” Janeway ordered as she stood up. Riker and Harry swiftly mimicked her.

The main screen activated and Janeway struggled not to react. The humanoid they had spoken to, the one that gave her an odd impression of the old Starfleet Academy groundskeeper, now looked exactly as she remembered him. Which was a clue given she knew Boothby had died two years prior to Voyager being launched.

“Well Commodore, it seems your outlandish story pans out. We have reviewed our own records and scans do show something leaving a Borg cube before it rammed one of our ships. The drones you have onboard are indeed stripped of most of their tech. So, while there is little in the way of consensus on how to proceed, I am inclined to take you at your word. As you said, you are a handful of your people far from your home. Your actions may have been hasty but understandable in retrospect.” The faux Boothby said. Even his voice was accurate to what Janeway remembered.

“I am glad to hear it. I must say, however, I’m wondering why your are wearing that body? Is it a construct you use to interact with us?” Janeway asked.

“None of your business!” Boothby snapped. Still, it paused before going on more calmly. “We will be watching you carefully, Commodore Janeway. Make sure you do not make any more hasty and rash decisions.”

“Wait!” Harry spoke up. “I have a gift for you.”

Boothby’s eyebrows went up, “And what could you possibly have that would interest us?”

Harry face was firm, “I am offering you a sample of the nanotechnology we used to create the weapons the Borg used against you.”

Gasps went up from all over the bridge. Janeway gave him a side-look, “Harry!”

Harry waved her off, “Look, even with our torpedoes, you could easily swamp us. So if you’re willing to lose some people, it would seem to be the better option just to kill us and keep such technology from spreading. That you haven’t tells us a lot about your intentions. However, while I doubt the Borg will do anything to you now, the same cannot be said in the future.”

Boothby sneered and gave a dismissive gesture, “Bah! We can handle the Borg.”

“Can you?” Harry asked. “Right now, they are cowed. Still, they have the technology they know can hurt you. The Borg will continue to assimilate more and more technology. Their nanotechnology will become more and more refined. Can you say the same about your bio-technology? All I know from my time connected to the Collective is that they are patient. They cannot help but see you as a threat and the Collective didn’t really defeat you; _Voyager_ did.

Boothby scowled, “Are you trying to bribe us into attacking the Borg? It’s not going to happen, boy!”

“Not at all,” Harry said. “I’m offering this to you as reparations for my own actions in the conflict. I also know that the Borg won’t give up. You only came out of Fluidic space due to the Borg. We know you physically are not meant to be here. So you have no reason to come unless provoked. I don’t want the Borg to someday have an edge on you. Because I don’t want them getting their hands on your bio-tech nor do I want to see the type of war your people will probably unleash if the Borg attack again. Because I know that just because the nanotech torpedoes worked against you, I doubt you don’t have other ways of destruction. Our dimension suffers enough from the tribulations of the Borg. We don’t need your people waging a war of extermination on top of it.”

Boothby was silent, appraising Harry. “A gift you say. No strings attached?”

Harry laughed, “As you said, what could you give us? Your bio-tech is antithetical to ours. We do this because not only is it the right thing to do but I’ll freely admit we’re afraid.”

“Afraid? Afraid of what?” Boothby asked suspiciously.

“Look at you! You’re wearing a body taken from someone from Earth. Janeway here obviously recognized the body as her body language gave away when she saw you. So given we’re in the Delta Quadrant, it’s someone from her memories. So why would you grab something like that? We don’t know how your realm works. Time and space may act differently. I offer this tech to you as an incentive not to take retribution on our home worlds. Not accusing you of such things, but we know your strength. We know our people, already in a war against a civilization from the Gamma Quadrant, could not survive an attack by your forces. So, if there are any strings attached, it is the hope that this is a peace offering.” Harry said solemnly.

“And you, Commodore? Do you agree with this?” Boothby asked.

Janeway turned her head briefly to scowl at Harry, “Not exactly. It’s not a course of action I would have taken. But realistically, I doubt I could stop him. More to the point, he _is_ correct. We have been concerned that your people might somehow attack the Federation in retaliation for what _Voyager_ has done. That and I agree that the Borg will not forget nor forgive. I expect they will be working towards another foray into your space. Maybe not for centuries, but their entire credo is _resistance is futile_. They will not stop.”

Boothby was silent for a long moment before nodding with a slight smile, “The others felt it was better to just destroy you. I argued that you were not the threat you originally seemed to be. I like being correct. Very well, put your package in a space-worthy housing and we’ll tractor it from your shuttle bay as we did before. Then we shall leave. As you said, my people have no desire to be in this impure abomination of a dimension. Given your Federation has no idea of our existence, yes…it might be better to destroy you. However, I’d like to keep my options open. You somehow created a weapon not even the Borg could create. Keeping you alive is keeping options open if we have questions later. It costs us nothing.”

Harry threw up his hands, “Not that it’s fun to be told you could squash us like a bug, but if we’re good, then I’m not going to complain. Give me about an hour and I’ll have everything you need ready. Also, is your pilot okay? I did my best but your people are so different I worried I was doing more harm than good.”

Boothby made another dismissive gesture, “Your poor efforts were enough. Luckily for you, his testimony was enough to keep us from destroying you. Do not concern yourself with things that are beyond the scope of your imagination.”

The screen went dark.

“Wow; I really feel validated for working to help keep his people safe from the Borg,” Harry said flatly.

Janeway couldn’t help but chuckle as the specter of being annihilated was lifted, “I guess it is humbling to be around beings who see us as we see primitive cultures.”

Riker harrumphed, “Well I’ll dress in animal skins and carry a wooden club if they leave us and the Federation alone.”

“I’m sure that image would do well on the crew chat boards,” Harry quipped. He turned to Janeway, “Well I need to head over to the Phoenix to get the package ready.”

“You know, Harry, we are a fleet. I realize you’ve been on your own for a long time but it would have been proper to bring up your plan,” Janeway pointed out.

Harry sighed, “Oh I fully know it. Sadly, in my experience it is always better to ask for forgiveness then try and get permission. It’s been that way for me for almost 400 years. Why change what works?” With a lop-sided grin, he disappeared in a slight pop of air.

Riker sighed, “You’re going to go grey in a month around him.”

Janeway sighed as well as she sank back into her seat, “I’d like to say your wrong but my blood pressure would make a liar out of me!”

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** : I want to say up-front that I’m not trying to bash or even show certain characters in a bad light. The decision to contact Species 8472 was a huge risk and a lot of the crew wouldn’t go for it. Especially after getting their hopes back up of things going well. Doing something that could easily result in their deaths, a lot of people would jump at the easy choice over the right choice. So I’m not trying to paint Riker as an arsehole or Sakonna as an unfeeling bitch. Sakonna is looking at the odds logically and she’s not Starfleet to begin with. Riker probably still has some PTSD issues from his time in the Maquis along with the fact he was completely alone for EIGHT YEARS along with time in a Cardassian prison (which I doubt is very pleasant) so I’m thinking his brain pan isn’t what it should be.

 **RELATIONSHIPS** : Folks…two adults occasionally having sex is NOT a relationship. Seven was NOT cheating on B’Elanna last chapter because they are NOT in a committed relationship. They are co-workers with benefits at this point. In fact, B’Elanna has probably had sex with Korath (or someone else) since she last hooked up with Seven. It’s the 24th Century here people. Hook-up culture is going to be viewed differently.

 **SPELLS** : For those not as familiar with my other Harry Potter work, I refuse to use a lot of JKR’s bad attempt at spell creation. One pet peeve of mine even before JKR first penned the Philosopher Stone was people don’t realize that the “-mancy” suffix relates to divination. Necromancy isn’t raising the dead; it’s speaking to the dead or using them as some way to divine the future. Using a Ouija board is a form of necromancy. Lectio Mens is literally Mind Reading in Latin while Seculuo Mens can be translated as a Shut Mind or Shut Out Mind. So, depending how you see it, you’re either protecting your mind (Shut Mind) or keeping others out in the first place (shut out mind) I’m sure most of you figured out that _Murmuro Vox_ is my version of the Muffilato spell. It means ‘buzzing voice’ in Latin which is a pretty accurate description of the effect from HP canon.

I realize a **LOT** of people **HATE** that I replace canon spells. In regard to those folks, know that I feed on your tears of anger. (evil grin)

 **NAMES** : I had a reviewer think that I made up the name Brannon Braga. I got the impression they thought it cheesy. I just responded that it’s a canon name and I try to use canon characters whenever possible even if it’s just the name. However, I just found out it’s also the name of one of the show’s writers. He was the one who came up with the name for Naomi.

**STARSHIPS**

**The Marianne**

This ship took a bit of work to find. As mentioned back when she got updated, she now looks more like an over-sized Federation “Mission” scout ship. If you google that, you can get a few good shots of it. This was shown in one of the Star Trek films I didn’t watch. (Nemesis?) While the canon Federation Mission class scout ship was barely bigger than the Delta Flyer, the Marianne is 80 meters long.

To put that in perspective, it means it’s bigger than a Jem’Hadar fighter (68 meters) but smaller than a Bird of Prey (110 meters) or the Defiant (120 meters) so in real terms it’s easy to think of the Marianne being a three-fourths size Defiant.

One aspect of this ship is that while it was modified to be longer, it’s still built off a hull of a _raider_. In a real sense, it’s a scaled-up version of the _Starfleet Battles_ pseudo-fighter with the same issues. While the Val Jean had a crew of 23, you can bet that they were rarely on the ship for long. You’d fully expect the ship to be cramped and having to “hot-bunk” the crew. It’s new mission of being a sub-light support ship takes this further. The Marianne isn’t meant to go off on its own. So, my feeling is that none of the crew live on it. This frees up a space for more weapons, sensors and the like. Sure, it probably has a better mess room now and an area where crew members might be able to rack out for a nap, but the actual crew live on Voyager or the Equinox.

**Primary Crew**

Commander (Ops or Tactical): CDR Chakotay (Human Male) While he has the title of Captain, he is an O-6. In fact, if the Marianne were a Starfleet ship, the Captain would probably be an O-5 given a ship of this size would most likely be a short-ranged, police type ship.

XO (Tactical): LCDR Sakonna (Vulcan Female) She has her own Memory Alpha page for more info. I find it interesting she sports a much more Romulan haircut. Also, my Sakonna is going to be different than the one seen in her DS9 debut episode (which I haven’t seen) given she would not be one to go undercover to get supplies as she finds lying to be antithetical to the Vulcan way. She’s a rebel and she will be the first to tell you that right up front.

Marianne Crew: Given the nature of the Marianne being so short-ranged and lacking in crew quarters, it made me realize that it would be a perfect place to rotate crews to, even if they aren’t posted there, for training. So, while there is a “primary crew” (of which I don’t feel the need to research at this point) even they aren’t onboard any more than any other shift. By this I mean unless the fleet knows they are going into something dangerous (like seen in last chapter) the ship is going to have a mix of crew members, and junior members at that. In fact, this means that LCDR Tuvok might actually spend less time on Voyager and more on Marianne as a trainer. Thus, you could give promising JLT and SLT officers some “command” time as shift leaders. Like Tuvok, Chakotay would excel at being the captain of such a training ship.

**The Phoenix**

The basic design is pretty much an 85-meter-long Star Destroyer. To put that in perspective, that means it’s 9 meters longer than Padme’s ship in _Phantom Menace_ , but 5 meters shorter than the Rebel transports seen leaving Hoth. In real world terms, it’s about the length of most modern submarines and 20 feet(ish) shorter than the USS Constitution (the wooden one). However, the main difference is that while there is a slight ridge from the prow of the ship to where the tower section is on a canonical Star Destroyer, on the Phoenix it’s more pronounced to where at the end, it’s pretty much a fin and no tower. So the over-all look of the ship is more triangular even though the bottom of the ship is still flat.

**Primary Crew**

Commander (N/A): “Captain” Harry Potter (Magical Human) Pretty much however you’d imagine Harry Potter to look in his early 30’s. Also, while he hides them, Harry has a few ports in his flesh that are similar to the ones people plugged into the Matrix have. (The ones on the body, not the big one at the nape of the neck) The two he uses the most are the ones under each collarbone)

Crewman (No rank): Veer (Edosian male) In regard to what he looks like. I had said go look on Memory Alpha but there is a better picture on the Memory Beta site. In fact, I had forgotten that Edosians have three legs as well. While his head is uncovered with no implants, Veer from the base of the neck down is completely covered in the Borg shell. In fact, it’s a reinforced shell given Veer’s job as a drone was to work in heavily radiated areas. Edosian’s third arm comes out right about at ‘comm badge’ level. Veer’s mechanical arms at waist level with a third, retractable arm, is at the same level as the center arm but on Veer’s back. So usually Veer only has five arms in play at a time. As with Alars and Uriash’s arm, the Borg shell has been smoothed out. In Veer’s case, he has modified it to have markings with cultural significance to him. Sort of like having tattoos.

Crewman (No Rank): Alars Zenkar (Cardassian male) Due to his genetic Yerem Kel syndrome, Alars is mostly still a Borg drone in that little was changed. While Harry was able to get his skin and hair back to normal although Cardassians skin tone isn’t that far from the Borg’s. He still has an optical implant but it’s subdued like the one on the Borg that gets shot when it beams onto the Enterprise bridge instead of one like Hue’s or Seven’s. Unlike Veer, Alars Borg shell has been altered to look like he’s mostly wearing the standard Cardassian armor like the type Gul Dukat is seen wearing.

Zim: (A.I.) Zim is a copy of the Doctor’s programming. However, while there is an area on the Phoenix which could be used as a sick bay with holo-projectors, Zim prefers to just stay “inside” the equipment that houses his matrix. He communicates pretty much like the typical ship’s computer does. Mostly Zim is noodling on the issue Harry presented to the Doc back in Chapter 6. He does, however, have a job in that he constantly monitors the life-signs of the Marauder pilots when they fly. He has the authority to activate the emergency droid if it fails to do so itself or even fly the ship remotely if possible, back to safety. Zim’s personality is more in line with the part of the Doctor who wants to be more adventurous even though he can only manifest if he borrows the Doctor’s mobile emitter away if an area doesn’t have holo-projectors. He does, however, have a portable unit which stores a streamlined version of his matrix which can be linked to the Delta Flyer or the Earhart. After a mission, this copy of Zim would then upload the memories of the mission to ‘Zim Prime’ on the Phoenix.

 **Fighter Crews** : Being a pilot is an additional duty. So it’s not like they just sit around when they’re not flying.

One issue Star Trek has is how it shows warp drive travel. Too often it looks like they are traveling at sub-light speed when they are probably traveling at warp. However, given so many episodes of all the series start with the ship in question being in a star system, well most sci-fi has gravity wells make travel more difficult so I’m sure it’s SOP to just drop out of warp when just outside a system and then move in on impulse. Even at half-impulse, it would only take you a little over four minutes to go from the Sun to the Earth so you can still get around pretty quickly on impulse. Of course, it does make you wonder how these ships deal with time dilation “full impulse” is as fast as you can go and not go to warp. Perhaps it’s a minor effect. It would explain, however, the Federation having “Time Beacons” (as shown in the TNG episode _Cause and Effect_ ) so as to ensure that no matter what time it might be on the ship, they synch their clocks with the “actual” time everyone else is on. If I understand the theory of relativity right, moving at speeds closer to light speed would mean, relative to everything else, time moves slower than you. So it would make sense that even if it’s minor, after moving around a star system on impulse, that the ship’s time clock would start running behind the official time. Again, I doubt it would be more than a few seconds or minutes given how starships are on impulse for long. Also, ships operating in well-known areas could safely zip right to their destination in a star system which would minimize impulse travel even more.

But back to the topic at hand, I’m thinking there the fleet has a CAP mission (Combat Air Patrol) going on while at sub-light speeds. Either the fleet drops out of warp and then deploys fighters or they stop outside the system, deploy the fighters and then do a quick warp jump into the system so the fighters are already in position. Likewise, as mentioned above, the Marianne would rotate to have their primary crew on duty in case of trouble.


	13. Hope & Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Revenge, the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell_.” (The Heart of Mid-Lothian) **Sir Walter Scott** –Scottish historical novelist, poet, playwright, and historian – 1771-1832

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 08-21-2020

**OUTER ORBIT OF THE 7** **th** **PLANET, GHELICO SYSTEM, SECTOR 36, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51813.4**

“Aslan, this is Valkyrie.”

Junior Lieutenant Rick Steinbach jerked awake with a muttered, “Finally!” He chided himself on dozing off but to be fair, he had been stuck in his fighter for almost 16 hours now. He was thankful that the flight suit, which was practically powered armor, had a waste recovery system. “Go ahead Valkyrie,” He said on the Gold Squadron leader’s frequency.

On the other end of the conversation, the Bandi leader of Gold Squadron, JLT Gal Sahreen tracked her targets which were close enough she could visually see them from her cockpit. While the dense ice ring her squadron was hiding in had so far kept them from being detected, it was still easy enough to make out the ships as they moved past her. It also was a testament to how well Commander Tuvok’s team had done in predicting where the pirates were likely to stage from.

“Aslan, I’m visually tracking the Nihydron pirates now. Tuvok’s intelligence was spot on. I’m counting eight raiders about the size of a runabout as well as two corvettes which are about half the size of the Marianne. No sign of the mother ship. They haven’t spotted us and are moving away but we could be detected at any moment.”

Steinbach looked at the telemetry being sent from where the Badgers lay in wait, “Copy that, Gold Leader. Hang tight. Blue and Green look to be in the best position. If they do an about-face, they’ll just run right into your guns.”

“Acknowledged. Gold Leader going dark,” came the reply.

Steinbach hands danced over the controls. The cockpits of the squadron leaders had an extra screen to plot attack courses. He used that now to finalize his plan. He hit the buttons for Blue and Green squadrons, “Basilisk, Raven; the Badgers had our targets jump in and move almost on top of them. As you can see, they are moving mostly towards Blue Squadron. You two engage and I’ll move Red Squadron to cover the left flank but still be able to reinforce the Ravens if they just try to barrel ahead. Questions?”

“Are we attacking to get them to retreat into Gold Squadron or engage to destroy?” JLT Jarvin Breve, the Green Squadron leader, asked.

“Both. If they stand and fight, Gold can pincer from behind. If they, turn and run, well Gold should be able to do plenty of damage to allow us to close. Either way, it will hopefully draw out the mother ship. Begin your attack when ready.” Steinbach ordered.

“Acknowledged, Red Leader,” came the reply from the other two squadron leaders.

Steinbach hit another button, “ _Phoenix_ , preparing to engage enemy. Sending telemetry now.” Normally their fighters would be linked up to the fleet but with deception being the order of the day, they were keeping to the lower band, tight beamed frequencies to avoid being detected. “Initial enemy location shows a good likelihood of the mother ship being where the Tactical team predicted it be hiding.”

“Good to hear. Good hunting Red Leader,” came the voice of the Wizard from where the Phoenix was hidden in a different part of the system.

Steinbach sent the planned telemetry to his own squadron. It took only a few minutes before both Blue and Green squadrons power up and began to move to attack range. Given the amount of ice in the ring, missiles would have to wait until they left the planet’s ice ring.

His sensors showed them that the Terkellian convoy, the target of the pirates and the bait of the Federation’s trap had turned to move away from where the pirates were just beginning to emerge away from the concealing cloak of ice.

Red Squadron moved carefully into position to help cover Green Squadron’s flank even as they still could quickly reinforce Blue Squadron. However, it quickly became apparent that the Nihydron pirates were not in the same class as the Hazari. With barely a few shots toward the incoming fighters, the pirates increased speed moved to break contact.

Steinbach frowned. On one hand, they were heading towards the moon where Phoenix was hiding (with the Marianne hiding in the next outer moon) which was good. Still, he worried that somehow the pirates had gotten wind of the fleet’s agreement with the Tekellian’s to help them against the pirate raids that had been plaguing them for almost two years. Could this quick escape be itself a way to lure his fighters into a Nihydron kill zone?

With a shake of his head, Steinbach banished such concerns. Unless the pirates had a lot more firepower than they had ever shown, his fighters and the Phoenix and Marianne should be enough to get themselves out of danger. That and Voyager and the Equinox could quickly come to their aid if needed. He gave a quick order to Gold Squadron to join the pursuit in such a way as to look like they were trying to box the pirates in instead of herding them in hopes the mother ship would come to their aid.

Of course, to make this look real, his fighters had to keep attacking. Out of the ice ring, missiles from Blue and Green Squadron began to penetrate the enemy’s defensive screen. Two of the smaller vessels had already been destroyed with another damaged and drifting on emergency power.

Suddenly threat alerts began to blossom on his HUD. More enemy were detected coming from the moon. Moving to intercept the enemy vessels was not only the mother-ship, a bulky vessel slightly larger than the Equinox, but two more vessels about the size of the Marianne.

Steinbach cursed. The data had predicted there might be other large vessels but it wasn’t confirmed. Still, sensors showed the Marianne was on its way at high impulse. That and the Phoenix had appeared around the curvature of the moon behind the enemy formation. So more of a fight than they were expecting, but Steinbach was confident in the plan.

“All wings; engage and destroy but use full defensive protocols. We’re not here to die for the Tekellian’s!” He ordered as both Red and Gold squadron move into a supporting position to the Blue and Green fighters already in the fight.

**OoOoO**

“ _Red 6_ has lost two engines and starboard weapons. Pilot has sustained minor injuries. Gunner droid offline so I’m moving them to safety,” Zim said into the earpiece in Harry’s left ear.

“Good. Send the order to have all fighters break off. Any of them that still has missiles can continue to engage but there is no reason to keep them in range,” Harry ordered. Now that there wasn’t any need for deception, all units were linked up properly allowing Zim to move damaged fighters to safety if their pilots or gunner drones were unable to.

From his tactical position, Alars nodded, “Orders sent.”

“Veer, I want you to send another volley of torpedoes to keep their warp fields destabilized. I think the _Marianne’s_ done enough damage that I can’t seem doing anything but get out of here.” Harry said as the tactical display showed that the pirates had taken heavy damage and the mother-ship was starting to take some heavy hits.

As the deck thrummed with the torpedoes firing, Harry found it odd that one of their most powerful weapons seemed to be used more often to keep the enemy from retreating. He made a note to see if maybe they could create a torpedo specifically designed to destabilize warp fields so they wouldn’t be wasting good war shots.

“ _Marianne_ has scored a direct hit on the mother ship’s port warp nacelle. Their defensive grid on that side has gone offline. I don’t think it will be able to cover the other two ships,” Alars reported.

Harry nodded given, even before Alars finished speaking, three missiles from the retreating Gold Squadron stuck home. Two on one of the ships, with one hitting the other ship which was already damaged. “Okay, that’s pretty much going to be it. Those missiles wouldn’t have hit but now, well now they’re just done. Send the surrender demand. If they don’t respond, fire a full spread of torpedoes, centered mostly on the mother-ship.”

Harry leaned back in his command chair. All of the smaller pirate ships were destroyed or disabled. One of the corvettes was still supporting the lesser damaged frigate but the other had lost power early in the fight to fire from direct phaser fire from the fighters.

The pirates did not respond, but before Harry could give the order to fire, both Voyager and the Equinox dropped out of warp a few thousand kilometers away. Harry couldn’t help but whistle. Paris _**really**_ could fly like a champ!

The pirates surrender plea was received in short order.

**OoOoO**

_Commodore’s Log, Star Date 51815.3, The fleet has almost reached the Terkellian star port orbiting Ereth III. While towing the surviving Nihydron ships has slowed the fleet down, it was still faster than waiting for Terkellian tugs to reach us._

_We will be staying Terkellian space for approximately two weeks as we plot our next, best course. Supplies will be in very good shape after we make port and the new crew complements seem to be working out the expected kinks. Thankfully, beyond a few minor injuries and easily repairable damage, our mission against the Nihydron pirates went off without any problems. In return for our help, the Terkellian are allowing us full use of their facility, cut rates on supplies and most importantly, information regarding what lies ahead of us in the Delta Quadrant._

_While normally I would avoid getting involved in inter-species conflicts, the Nihydron pirates have been an issue for many races in this area. Even the Krenim Empire had attacks by pirates in their outer colonies. Therefore, it was felt the goodwill of taking such action was justified. Another factor is the Nihydron homeworld and sphere of influence is away from us and our projected course. Hopefully, as news of this action spreads, it will help mitigate our involvement with the Borg. Harry was right; a lot of races had been rooting for Species 8472 to wipe out the Borg. Our help to defeat that hope hasn’t been well received even as the Terkellians understood we were laboring under bad information._

_For myself, I am looking forward to shore leave. The Terkellians are a very pragmatic and joyful people. After so many issues in the Delta Quadrant, it has been a relief that we were able to make contact with the likes of the Zahl and now the Terkellian. Of course, the Mid-Westerner in me can’t help but think this will mean trouble is ahead for the fleet._

**XxXxX**

**CARGO BAY 2, USS VOYAGER, IN ORBIT AROUND ERETH IV, SECTOR 36, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51820.2**

“Try it now, Doc,” Harry said as he disconnected a linkage cable from Seven’s alcove which was connected to one of his own nanotech ports. While Seven wasn’t in regeneration mode, she was ‘offline’ in a way.

The Doctor made some changes to the screen at the science station by Seven’s workbench. He looked at Torres who was monitoring with a specialized tricorder, “If you’re ready?”

B’Elanna nodded, “Baseline is set.”

The Doctor hit the enable button and there was a low hum. Seven jerked slightly in her alcove but otherwise there was little to show the diagnostic was running. Harry put his shirt back on and walked over so he could see the readings on B’Elanna’s tricorder. “How we looking?”

B’Elanna shook her head, “So far we’re still looking at a lot of nothing. The problem is that’s what makes me suspicious. You’d think we’d find some form of emotion control or other Borg overrides given Seven says they are standard.”

Harry nodded as he rubbed his jaw, “Well a negative result is still a result. I agree with you though. If anything, you’d expect the Borg to put up a dummy override for us to find if there is something they were trying to hide. Basic rule of deception; give the enemy what they expect to see. My friend Bill Weasley used to tell me about various digs he’d done as a curse-breaker. Setting up something thieves expected was a tried and true method of misdirection as well as being an excellent cover for a trap.”

“Well the Borg are not noted for their modesty,” the Doctor said as he reviewed the data coming in from Seven’s alcove. “They might not think to be that deceptive given their views of lesser beings. That the Borg Cubes have been boarded before and those personnel are almost always ignored is a testament to that.”

Harry let out a sigh, “Can’t argue with that. Never did understand why the Collective allows that. It’s not like it would take much effort at all for some drones to be sent to assimilate any intruders.”

“Well for all the Borg talk about being a Hive Mind, it might be that at that level, unless something out of the ordinary is detected, the drones just don’t have enough internal initiative to raise the alarm,” B’Elanna said slowly. “I guess it’s like having a virus enter through a cut in your finger. Until the virus starts making itself known, the initial infection is pretty much unnoticed.”

The Doctor thought on that for a moment, “That does seem to be a good analogy. Still, it does show the Borg aren’t the perfection they profess to be.”

Harry laughed, “First rule of megalomaniacs; always talk up your abilities and underestimate your opponents. Oh and monologue about how great you are and how doomed your opponents are.”

B’Elanna smirked, “Sounds like you’ve had some direct experience with that.”

Harry chuckled, “I wasn’t kidding when I joked with the Commodore about luck being my superpower given a lot of my enemies, especially Voldemort, really should have rolled right over me. But I guess it’s just in a bad guy’s DNA to act a certain way. Probably why they end up bad guys in the first place.”

The trio bantered back and forth for another 20 minutes or so before the Doctor sighed, “I’m afraid that either there isn’t anything to find or we’re not there yet to find what is hidden.”

“But you do think something is hidden, right Doc?” B’Elanna asked.

The Doctor nodded, “I do. Your original points about why she has any secondary sexual characteristics are valid and Seven’s concerns that even with Kes’ modification, there are redundancies built into drones. We’re missing something here.”

“Well I noted she was a centurion drone the minute she came on to my Cube. I’m still wondering what the Nine that she’s the Seven of. I find it _**very**_ suspicious that even she doesn’t know,” Harry pointed out.

The Doctor began to end the diagnostic, “Be that as it may, I believe it’s back to the drawing board for now. We might want to see if we can find a Borg debris field. With a drone to more fully scan, I’ll be able to better see what should be there and where.”

Harry harrumphed at that, “Another thing I never understood about the Borg. While I can see that policing up destroyed ships might not be efficient, leaving your tech lying around isn’t good operation security either.”

The Doctor sighed, “Another example of Borg arrogance I’m afraid. Still, as you said, having your enemy underestimate you is always a good thing.”

Seven’s eyes opened, “Report.”

“And good morning to you, sunshine!” B’Elanna said tartly.

Both the Doctor and Harry chuckled at the puzzled expression that crossed Seven’s face, ‘So far we haven’t found anything. However, what we didn’t find is telling. We think the Borg have hidden something but forgot to leave certain things which you’d normally have,” the Doctor said.

Seven stepped out of her alcove. B’Elanna gave her the tricoder. She reviewed the data in the quick, efficient way Seven was known for. She finally nodded, “You are correct. While I do not have a schematic of drone control system, I can see various points the scan should have found something in keeping in line with standard Borg protocols. Their absence is suspicious.”

Harry smirked, “Glad you agree. So right now, we’re chalking this up as a tie. The Borg have hidden something but at least we can be pretty sure we know they did it. Now we just need to keep working on finding it.”

Seven nodded brusquely, “Agreed. It is unsettling to not know what might be lurking in my own body.”

Before anyone could reply to that, Harry’s comm-badge beeped. He tapped it, “Harry here.”

“Captain Potter,” came Tuvok’s voice. “The Commodore has requested you and Seven meet her in astrometrics. Additionally, Commander Torres is needed in Cargo Bay 1. There seems to be an issue with some of the incoming power converters and her help has been requested.”

“She’s on her way,” Harry said as Torres immediately made a beeline for the door. “Seven and I will be up presently.”

Harry tapped his comm-badge again and turned to Seven, “Once more into the breach, I guess.”

Seven merely raised an eyebrow and followed Harry out of the bay.

**OoOoO**

Harry watched from the other side of the astrometrics lab as the alien Arturis, Janeway and Seven worked. Arturis had been staying on the station and had contacted Voyager shortly after they had arrived according to Janeway. Arturis was excited about an odd signal he had discovered that he had had trouble decoding. Given Arturis’ race were known to be like a biological universal translator, his inability to decipher the signal vexed him greatly. Now he was convinced that signal had something in common with the fleet.

Arturis and Janeway were in animated conversation as Seven worked to enable the protocols that Arturis had created over the last half an hour. Harry, however, had had little to give to the process but had stuck around because something was niggling at the back of his mind.

“So Treana, what do you think of our guest?” Harry asked the Orion who was sitting at her station and analyzing the raw data which would later be used to chart their next leg of the journey back to the Alpha Quadrant.

Treana looked over to where Arturis was telling a story that require elaborate hand gestures, “I do not like him.”

“Why not?” Harry asked. He was surprised that Treana didn’t take a second to think about the question.

“Because I don’t like how he looks at me. Look, he says he knows over 4,000 forms of communication. Well body language, facial expressions and all that are part of language. Most people aren’t very good at reading such things. Him? He might as well be reading your thoughts and I don’t like that one bit,” Treana said flatly.

“Hmmm, hadn’t thought of that,” Harry said with a quick glance at Arturis which made him realize that if Treana was right (and she probably was) Arturis would easily read out the covert nature of the act with all the suspicion involved. “I think it might be best to say away from Janeway’s new best friend.”

“Of _**course,**_ she’s enraptured!” Treana scoffed. “If you can instinctively pick up a language in mere hours, imagine how much you would be able to read and manipulate the longer you’re exposed to it? You human’s made a sport of making your language full of symbolism, hidden meaning, double meanings and the like. He’s playing her like a Vulcan harp.”

Harry just stared at the green woman for a moment before shaking his head, “You know, for a former pleasure slave, you’re pretty damned sharp.”

Treana rolled her eyes, “It wasn’t all dancing and sex, Harry. Most slaves in my position did what I did. We read, we learned, we discussed things while waiting around in the seraglio. What else did we have to do? Plus, like the geishas of ancient Japan on your homeworld, we often were de facto companions. Not all males wanted sex from a vapid partner only good at bed sports.”

Harry’s eyebrows went up, “I didn’t know you were into history.”

Treana shrugged as she finished up her last report and sent it to the operations team in charge of course charting. “Well I got interested in what a cultures ancient stories could tell you about them. Andorians especially! You humans as well. Your mythologies and religion say so much about your people. It should be required reading instead of the scrubbed and sanitized version of your planet’s history most people in the Alpha Quadrant get.”

Harry laughed, “Well I’ve been telling people, left and right, that there is little difference between 24th Century humans and the one’s I grew up with back in the late 20th Century. Oh, the governmental processes are better and there is a better baseline of what is considered normal. But everything else? It’s still the same old drama.”

Treana smiled at this, “Speak of the same old drama, my shift is about over. Since you’ve seen my intellect in action, how about I show you how good of a dancer I am…especially between the sheets.”

Harry blinked at this before covertly looking around to see if she’d been overhead, “Treana! What the hell? I thought you were with Tom?”

“So? He’s not my owner. It’s not like you’re seeing Seven even though I know you’ve banged her,” Treana said with an evil grin.

“Banged her? You have been spending _**way**_ too much time around Tom,” Harry said along with an eye-roll.

“He amuses me. Besides, I’ve wanted to crawl into your bed for some time. If anything, I want to thank you from rescuing me from a hell few sentients could ever conceive of,” Treana said evenly.

Harry scowled, “I didn’t do it expecting a reward, Treana.”

The Orion shrugged. Even this simple act was done in a way which made her ample bosom jiggle seductively. If Harry hadn’t spent so much time around Fleur and even full-on Veela, he knew he probably would be acting like Ron used to around Fleur.

“I know you didn’t, Harry. But the fact remains my life was crushed into a shadow world. A purgatory I could not escape from. Aware enough to be screaming inside my skull but too much of a drone to do anything about it. Then, one day, I heard your voice. It was like an angel’s voice calling me out of the hell of the Collective. In terms from your world’s mythology, you went down into Hell and pulled our souls free and back into the light.”

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Enough with the Messiah metaphors! I got enough of that from those who found out the real story of what happened between Voldemort and I.” Harry said as he waved his hands like waving off someone from coming closer.

Treana merely smirked, “Deny it all you want, Harry. But in those initial moments, you were as a God to me. I am sure many of the others would agree if they had the courage to admit to it. And who wouldn’t want to be one with their God? I promise I shall worship you most delightfully.”

Harry’s jaw dropped before he slapped his forehead and muttered a string of curses in Gobbledygook. “Fine, but I’m only doing this because you’re drop-dead gorgeous and I know from beings on my homeworld similar to you Orion gals that arguing with you on the subject of sex is like arguing with the Borg.”

Treana laughed deep enough that both Seven and Janeway looked over. “Yes, resistance _**is**_ rather futile.”

**OoOoO**

_Captain’s Blog, Star Date…let’s see here…umm, 51822.3. Or for those of us still rocking it old school, November 5_ _th_ _, 2374. Heh-heh, ‘Remember, Remember; the 5_ _th_ _of November.’ Of course, I’m probably one of the few people left in the galaxy who remembers that old chestnut. Hmm, I need to see if Tom has_ _ V for Vendetta _ _in his classic movie archive. Anyway, so the fleet is in route to where Arturis ‘the Amazing’ says the signal he caught wind of emanated from. I don’t know why he didn’t go here first instead of trying to decipher the signal back on Ereth IV. But what do I know? Supposedly I’m a suspicious throwback to humanity’s less refined time. Thanks, Arturis. I hope my body language tells you how much I don’t trust you. And that you’re a smug twat to boot!_

_So Janeway and too many of the crew seem to think Arturis is the next best thing to jam on toast. Luckily, I’m not the only one who thinks something is a little off about the walking universal translator. That those are all Vulcans or Romulans (as well as Treana) seems very interesting to me. Additionally, the former drones seem less inclined to jump on the Arturis is cool bandwagon. I swear if Neelix gushes any harder about Arturis, I’m going to start calling him Colin._

_Maybe I’m just being paranoid but paranoia has worked pretty well for me so far._

_It’s a good thing I have a lot of various underhanded things at my disposal. I’m going to be watching how this all plays out_ _**very** _ _carefully over the next few days._

**XxXxX**

**BRIDGE, USS DAUNTLESS, SECTOR 37, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51823.1**

“This is truly amazing! I knew Starfleet has some brilliant things hidden in the Skunkworks of Utopia Planitia, but this is truly incredible,” Janeway gushed as she and the other captains and selected personnel toured the bridge.

Chakotay shook his head, “Unfortunately we still don’t know why it’s here and what happened to the crew. Until we know that, I’m a little leery. With all of the escape pods are missing, well that is odd considering the ship seems fine.”

“That and finding such an advanced ship adrift two entire Quadrants from home is enough to give anyone pause,” Tuvok said from where he and Sakonna were examining the tactical station.

“Given the advances the Dominion have made into Federation space, I’m surprised that Starfleet would be wasting it’s time on such a ship,” Captain Tahl said from the captain’s chair he was trying out.

“Well if this drive does what Torres thinks it can, it might be so that Starfleet could send a strike-force into the Gamma Quadrant to attack key areas without having to go through the Bajoran Wormhole choke-point,” Riker pointed out.

Janeway nodded, “Although it’s obvious this is a test-of-concept prototype. The lack of serious armament, replicators, holodecks and only one transporter show that. Why install such things on a prototype? I’m guessing if the concept bore out, this ship would be retrofitted as a scout with minimal crew to do mission on par with what V’Lana is itching to do .”

“Speak of the devil,” Riker said as V’Lana and Arturis came out of the turbo-lift.

“Commodore,” Arturis said with the little half-bow he seemed to give at the start of every conversation. “I believe I have cracked through the corruption of the records. This ship uses a quantum slipstream drive whose technology was discovered in something called a Slaver stasis box. This ship is the first ship of this size built using this engine design. From what I can tell, the original prototype was closer to the size of your ship the _Marianne_.”

“A Slaver stasis box! There hasn’t been one found since 2269 in the disputed territory between the Federation and the Kzin!” Chakotay said with an amazed look on his face.

“Well that explains the advanced technology. The Slavers were on par with the Old Kings before they ascended and left their space to be taken over by their Klingon sepoys,” Janeway said, almost to herself.

Arturis made a placating gesture, “I know little of such things. What I can tell you is that a misalignment of the antimatter injector coils caused a cascade failure. The records show that the crew realized the error but had the choice of a very small chance of fixing it in time or a certain chance of abandoning ship safely. That and they had to make the decision before they were too far away to be rescued. From the last captain’s entry, he expected the ship to be destroyed due to too much acceleration, so they abandoned ship. However, the telemetry data shows the ship hit a certain slipstream velocity and then the quantum field began to degrade. Apparently, your Federation engineers overestimated the amount of sheer the ship would be subjected to in the slipstream. Even so, it is quite remarkable to think that in the time it took for the field to completely collapse, this ship had travelled a distance you expect to take 60 years to cross. This ship took a little over a month to travel that same distance.”

“A misalignment. So nothing fundamentally wrong with the ship?” Janeway asked.

Arturis shook his head, “No. The issue was there wasn’t time to realign the injectors before the crew thought they would have passed a point of safety as well as distance. Hence them abandoning ship. Again, from the last entry, the captain seemed convinced the ship would break apart. It is also apparent that after it fell out of the slipstream, the ship sent out a brief, automatic SOS but this was as corrupted as most of the data files still are. Still, it was enough for me to link it to the Federation signals from your fleet as you entered the Eresh system.”

“V’Lana?” Chakotay asked.

The head of the fleet’s special forces unit shrugged, “So far what Arturis says matches up with what Commander Torres has found. Plus, from theoretical work I’ve seen in the past, passing through a quantum slipstream is going to have much less stress on the hull then comparable travel inside a warp bubble. So, while the crew made the safe call, the lack of overt damage on the hull isn’t inconceivable even if they felt the ship was doomed.”

Janeway smiled and rubbed her hands together, “Excellent! If anything, we could see if we could send the ship back remotely or with a crew of volunteers. If successful, we could ferry our crew back home in stages. If not, well at least those back home would know we’re not dead.”

Arturis looked surprised, “Given you issues I’ve seen in your logs; I’m surprised you wouldn’t just take the ship and go home. The Delta Quadrant has not been kind to your people.”

Janeway shook her head, ‘It’s tempting, but I’m not about to risk the entirety of the fleet on a prototype which already has failed once.”

Arturis bow again, “Of course, Commodore. Rest assured I will continue to help work through the remaining corrupted files. It has been a fascinating exercise for me.”

“It’s too bad you don’t have help. I’m betting a team of your people could burn through this in no time,” Harry Potter said from where he had been leaning against the wall, away from everyone else.

An odd look crossed Arturis’ face before he smiled, “That is very true, Captain Potter. However, if I might be forgiven of a bit of vanity, I’d rather horde such an interesting task for myself.”

Harry pursed his lips and shrugged. To the surprise of many, Harry apparated away without another word.

**OoOoO**

Veer blinked in surprise as LCDR Torres beamed onto the bridge unannounced and was even more surprised to see her stagger a bit. He quickly looked at the status boards built into the captain’s chair he was currently in. Everything was still green. Nothing had changed over the last few days they had parked around the USS Dauntless. “Are you in distress, Commander?” Veer asked in the clipped but somewhat chirpy voice Edosians had.

“Where is that bastard?” B’Elanna snarled.

Veer cocked his head to the side, “I do not understand who you mean. Alars is regenerating and Captain Potter usually is in his quarters or in the rec room at this time.”

“Oh, I’m going to wreck his room, alright!” B’Elanna said in a scathing tone as she disappeared into the turbo-lift, pulling out two Klingon daggers as she did so.

Veer blinked a bit in consternation. He hit the comm button, “Harry, I do not wish to alarm you but it appears Lieutenant Commander Torres is here to murder you.”

A chuckle was the initial response, “In a mood, is she?”

“Knives and all; I conjecture she is suffering from an over-indulgence of alcohol if her words and inhibited motor control are anything to go by,” Veer explained. “Should I throw up containment fields to detain her?”

“No. Just seal my cabin door so she can use any of her engineering wizardry to get it open. While I’m sure she’ll just bang on it for a bit and threaten me before coming to the rec room, I’d rather not get my room trashed for being careless,” Harry said.

“She may be coming directly to your location,” Veer warned.

Harry laughed, “Veer, I’m almost 400 years old. A drunk, knife-wielding half-Klingon is a threat I could have taken down back when I was 12 and given I killed a 20 meter, ‘ _I can kill you with my evil eyes_ ’ magical demon-snake at that age, I’ll be fine.”

“Very well. Bridge out,” Veer said and went back to updating the Pit-Stop protocols for the future time they would want to create the next one.

**OoOoO**

“I know you’re hiding in here somewhere, Wizard!” Come out and fight me like a proper warrior,” B’Elanna slurred as she cased the room, her knives at the ready. It was lit only with one weak light on the ceiling, leaving most of the room in shadows.

“Don’t be shy! I just want to carve Seven’s initials onto your buttocks, you poaching dog! First Seven from me and now Treana from Tom! Oh, I’m going to…going to make you pay!” B’Elanna shouted.

Harry’s voice came out of the gloom of the small space the Phoenix crew used as a gym, meeting room and whatever else which might need a bit of space. “My, my; aren’t we a bit pissed. Breaking into Korath’s stash of blood wine, I take it?”

B’Elanna whirled towards the sound, “What of it? I don’t need to be sober to take down the likes of you! Arturis is right, you _**are**_ a barbarian! And that’s saying a lot coming from someone with my pedigree! You just couldn’t deal with not being the only savior type around, could you?”

Harry’s laugh seemed to come from multiple places in the shadows, “Well far be it for me to contradict Arturis the Many-Tongued. I only speak a smattering of French, Gobbledygook as well as Parsel speech. So, I take it his Glibness got you thinking of what a wanker I am? I know my star has taken a big hit suddenly in the last few days. Kathy has been down-right curt with me.”

B’Elanna threw one of her knives where she was sure Harry was, “Bastard! Fight me!”

As the words left her lips, Harry appeared from seeming nothingness and caught her knife in mid-air, “Ah my dear B’Elanna. Drunk or sober, you sadly would never be in my league.”

With a wordless cry of rage, B’Elanna rushed Harry, her remaining knife heled pointed down like an ice pick. She viciously slashed at Harry’s stomach only to cut air.

She whirled to see Harry smirked at her from a few meters away, “Think fast!” Harry said.

B’Elanna barely had time to blink as the knife Harry had caught struck her, pommel first right in her cranial ridge. With a howl of pain, B’Elanna collapsed on the floor, both knives clattering away into the darkness.

Harry quickly moved in and put a boot squarely between her breasts and pushed down hard. “I win,” he said with a lop-sided grin.

B’Elanna snarled a wordless cry which was half a growl and one-half cry of pain from her throbbing forehead.

“Tsk, tsk; you are in a mood tonight. Let’s do something about that, shall we?” Harry said with a smirk as he manifested the Elder Wand. “ _ **Imperio!**_ ”

B’Elanna’s ragged snarl cut off like a switch had been thrown.

Harry frowned, “Oh no, no no! That’s not what we want at all! Come on B’Elanna; find your center. I _**order**_ you to fight that which is binding you, influencing you, telling you what you have to do!”

B’Elanna’s eyes went from being hazed over to locking with Harry’s with a fire in them. She began to shake and push back against Harry’s foot keeping her down.

“Is that all you’ve got B’Elanna?” Harry asked, distaste dripping from his words. “All the rage and spite, all the hurt and need to prove you are better than what people think? Are you so weak minded after all? The disappointment of your parents, of past lovers you ran from. From the Starfleet you betrayed. Was it all a lie? I guess you were just a weakling all along.”

B’Elanna gnashed her teeth and began to thrash about as if she were having a seizure.

Harry laughed a nasty laugh, “Thrash around all you like. You’re too weak-willed to break through. You mind is _**weak**_. Your _**will**_ is weak. _**You**_ are weak.”

“ _bIHegh jIH!_ ” B’Elanna roared as she reached up to grab Harry’s leg. She’d almost gotten to a point where she could bite his calf before Harry dropped his Unforgivable Curse.

“Now _**THAT’S**_ the B’Elanna I know!” Harry said as he carefully kicked her away from him.

B’Elanna snarled and bared her teeth before she paused and seemed to come back to herself. She shook her head and looked up at Harry, “Har…Harry? What…what am I doing here? What is going on?”

Harry went down onto his haunches, “I think you and a lot of the crew are being manipulated. What is going on, I’m not sure. What I do know is I think you’re free of it for the time being.”

B’Elanna shook her head and slumped back prone onto the deck, “I…I feel so wrung out. What did you do to me?”

“Do to you? I did little but lock you into place and push your buttons to force you to show that you have the fire to break free,” Harry said with a lop-sided grin. “Plus, I really doubt you would want to stab me because I had sex with Seven and Treana.”

B’Elanna moaned, “I ache everywhere. My brain included. Plus…did you punch me in the head?”

Harry chuckled, “Nah, I just hit you with your knife handle. Nice knives, by the way.”

“What?!?!” B’Elanna almost screeched, “I attacked you?”

“Attack implies an ability to wound or kill. I’d like to think it was merely Klingon foreplay. Speaking of which; let’s get you to bed. I sadly know firsthand how draining being under the Imperious Curse can be.”

B’Elanna didn’t know what to think but reached out and took the hand Harry offered her. As soon as her head stopped hurting, maybe she could get some answers.

**OoOoO**

“You know, when I said I was putting you to bed, I meant for you to rest,” Harry said into B’Elanna’s hair give her head was resting on his naked chest.

Torres purred deep in her throat. “Blame my mother’s genes. A good fight, physical or mental always gets a Klingon going. Plus, as you said; a little pain is just foreplay.” She stretched her naked body against his, “Hmmm…I can see why Seven was so complimentary about your ‘intimacy lessons’ as she put it.”

“Well I have to say that it’s rare I’ve managed to bed a gal smaller than me. I was always the runt in my class. It wasn’t till I was able to use my tamed Borg nanoprobes to kick-start some long-delayed growth so I could finally get my body back to what it should have been if I hadn’t grown up malnourished. That and I was tired of looking a few months shy of my 18th birthday for decades if I didn’t use a glamour,” Harry replied.

“Well I hope you realized that good things can come in small packages,” B’Elanna said as she nuzzled into Harry’s chest.

“Cumming being the ongoing activity for this evening,” Harry said with a smirk in his voice.

B’Elanna bit Harry’s chest slightly, “Jerk! Although, you _**are**_ a Wizard. Tom is good in bed but nothing like you!”

Harry sighed, “Well I can cheat. While I can’t read minds without some work, I can get a lot just being in close proximity especially if I can look in your eyes. So yeah, easy to please your partner when you can get real-time updates on what is working or not. Plus, wizarding kind is tougher and has more stamina than normal humans.”

B’Elanna chuckled, “I’m not complaining. Most human men are one shot and it’s off to dreamland. You can cheat all you want me with me given your stamina and staying power. Of course, now I want to get Seven in here. Oh, the fun we can have!”

Harry began to run a hand through B’Elanna’s hair, “One thing at a time, my dear Mistress of Engineering. We’ve got a more pressing thing to deal with.

**XxXxX**

**BRIDGE, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 37, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51827.4**

The turbo-lift doors opened and Harry rapidly found everyone except for Arturis scowling at him.

“I didn’t call for you, Captain Potter,” Janeway said coolly. Standing next to Riker in the XO seat, Harry felt Arturis’ smile was a less the normal, friendly expression he affected and was very much the smug look of someone who feels they have won.

“Well Commodore, I’m rather infamous for showing up at the right time in all the wrong places. I know it’s a bit of the kettle calling the pot black, but it seems a bit odd to me that you, of all people, left me out of the loop in regard to a major decision,” Harry said easily. He was working hard to project the breezy, ‘one-of-the-guys’ at the pub sort of air he had found to help make people be at ease around him. By the dark looks on everyone’s face, it wasn’t working. It also didn’t escape his notice that Tuvok wasn’t at his station at Tactical even though the entire Alpha shift was on duty along with Commissioner Ransom sitting next to Janeway.

Riker stood up and faced Harry, a look of distaste on his face, “And that’s exactly why we don’t want you here. You’re a threat. You always have been. Our fleet exists only because you allow it. All of that could change in at a whim. You’re just as bad as a Q playing a game to amuse only yourself. So, we’re taking back our lives and leaving.”

Harry quirked an eyebrow at Janeway, “How? The _Dauntless_ doesn’t have the room.”

Commissioner Ransom shook his head, “It doesn’t if we were to fully crew it for the journey. But the ship can be run by a few personnel. Even taking it slower than the original journey here, the Dauntless can get us back home in two months. Even with crowding the ships with cyropods, there still is enough room for supplies for the small crew still awake to live on. Neelix is almost done prepping those supplies now.”

Harry crossed his arms, “Well far be it for me to deny you a quick ride home. However, since I wasn’t told, does this mean there are others that aren’t invited?”

Janeway made a dismissive gesture, “Some of the more radical elements of the Maquis seem quite willing not to go home and face Federation justice for their crimes. Most of the former drones as well. Which is fine as it eases the burden on the rest of us to get home.”

Harry snorted, “Right. Wouldn’t want to make it difficult to leave some crewmembers behind if it allows you to get home.”

Commander Braga, who was manning the Tactical station coughed slightly, “I think that’s your cue to get the hell off the bridge, Potter. As the Commodore said, you aren’t wanted here. Go take your sorcerous ways and go toy with some other playthings. We’re done dancing to your tune.”

It took a lot for Harry not to crack a smile at the inadvertent joke the Beta shift leader just made, “I find your lack of faith in me disturbing,” Harry said with a hint of menace. But then he grinned, “Still, it’s your party. Can you at least tell me when you expect to leave? If you’re going to just dump Voyager here, I’d at least like to insure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.”

Janeway sniffed, “I’d blow the old girl up before we left if I didn’t know you’d just stop it. We leave in two days. Good-bye, Harry Potter. Maybe someday justice will come to you for all the crimes you indulged in during the Eugenics War. At least now we have a face to go with the crimes. You’ll be properly added to the lineup of war criminals from that era just like your friend Khan.”

Harry couldn’t help but look surprised at this. Arturis really had been pulling out all the stops to get him cut off from the rest of the crew. But why?

Harry bowed slightly, “And on that note…” and apparated back to the Phoenix.

**OoOoO**

“I just don’t understand what the ultimate goal here is,” Tahl said as he rubbed his jaw. Around him in the Equinox briefing room were the highest-ranking members of the “Exiles” as V’Lana had dubbed them. The discussion of what to do had been on-going for over an hour now as the time the Dauntless was expected to leave grew closer. “By using the _Dauntless_ , the crew is leaving behind _Voyager_ and the rest of the ships. All that technology we know is above and beyond most of the races we’ve encountered so far.”

“That might be the point,” Tuvok said slowly. “Separate the bulk of the crew from the ships. Perhaps there is a fleet of ships, perhaps even hired Hazari, ready to pounce once the _Dauntless_ leaves.”

Harry grunted, “But that predisposes that Arturis does indeed have some sort of plan. My question is why? I mean okay maybe he’s a slaver, or someone who is using his language powers to make lots of money. He could easily be a renegade from his people since he’s the only one we’ve ever seen.”

“Most of Species 116 rarely leave their borders. The Borg have been trying to assimilate them for going on two centuries. They have proven…resilient foes,” Seven said.

“Really?” Harry said. That something that had been niggling at him for days suddenly broke through. “You know, the Terkellians and others were not happy to find out we helped the Borg. I mean that’s why we helped against the pirates. Given it looks like one member of this Species 115 can use his voice to enthrall almost an entire fleet, well if it weren’t for the Borg, they’d probably be running the Delta Quadrant if Arturis is typical of his people.”

Uriash hissed dangerously before making a chopping motion with his non-Borg hand, “You think he is plotting for revenge against the Commodore for helping the Borg? That without the Borg, his people could be ruling this space?” The Gorn’s tail twitched in agitation as he said this.

“It is as good of motive as any, I think. Revenge is a universal dish, served cold throughout the galaxy,” Ventrys said from her seat next to Harry. “I have issues with the timing. I know he’s clever but to be able to find the _Dauntless_ and create all of this? How did he do it? He would have to have had access to Federation history, protocols and the like to fake what we’ve seen.”

“Something he could have gotten while you all were on Talaska IV,” V’Lana pointed out. “From what Neelix told me, there were plenty of non-Norcadians at their star-port. Given Arturis’ command of coding, it is entirely possible he was there and looted all the info he needed right out from _Voyager’s_ databanks. He then could craft a story with all the elements we needed to make us accept what we were seeing.”

“But we didn’t learn about the war with the Dominion and the Empire and the Federation till after the _Marianne_ showed up,” Korath pointed out which got many nodding at the point.

“True, but we also spent two weeks with the Zahl after our battle with the Hazari,” Dhael pointed out from her place next to Tahl.

“Which implies he has a ship capable of not only keeping up with _Voyager_ but being able to get ahead of us. Gee, what ship do we know of that’s really fast?” Harry asked with obvious sarcasm.

Seven nodded, “Technology such as quantum slipstream would explain how Species 116 has kept the Collective at bay. However, there is still the issue of time. How could Arturis build such a ship in so short of time?”

“I don’t believe he did,” Tuvok said. “Before ordered off by the Commodore, my team and I were tracking down odd readings from various parts of the ship. Ensign Kim’s team also had found anomalous readings. Given the level of technology implicit with the quantum slipstream drive, I conjecture that perhaps the _USS Dauntless_ itself might be a Species 116 ship altered to look like a Federation ship.”

Tahl nodded slowly, “That would explain the lack of many of the features like replicators on the ship. This is all conjecture, though. What can we do? If Arturis is in control of the rest of the fleet, then they are essentially hostages. While Captain Potter can keep _Voyager_ from being used aggressively against us, We are still left with him being able to threaten the lives of all the crew under his thrall.”

“That and we don’t know what steps he’s taken to watch for threats to his plan. By the way; Jonna, you’ve been quiet this whole time. Your thoughts on this? The rest of the _Earhart_ crew had already given their views,” Harry asked.

The one-time Angosian super-soldier looked startled at the change of topic. “I have nothing to contribute,” She said rather softly.

“Really?” Harry asked. “You seem rather invested in the conversation. I might not be in Arturis’ league but you seemed to get upset at certain topics. Almost like you didn’t like hearing Arturis being slandered. Ha! What am I saying? It’s exactly that!” Suddenly Harry thrust out his hand and a red bolt of energy slammed into Jonna. She gasped in surprised before a second bolt took her down.

“ _ **Accio listening device!**_ ” Harry intoned. A ripping sound was heard before a small, alien device sailed over to Harry’s hand. Around the table, the rest of the group looked shell-shocked. “I think we can safely say the jig is up. I guess Angosians are close enough for Arturis to work his magic on. Hell, quite a few folks on the ship are probably plants,” Harry said speculatively.

Before anyone could speak, Harry’s comm-badge beeped, “Harry here.”

“Captain! The _Dauntless_ just powered up and I’m reading transporter activity…”

Alars’ voice cut off with a hum. Harry instinctively apparated away at the first hint of a tingle. As he reappeared by the door, Harry could see that the rest of the group had been beamed away.

“Damnit! I should have thought to lock down the transporters!” Harry cursed to himself before apparating to the bridge of the Phoenix to find it empty. He jacked in and reinforced the shields. Unless Arturis had some form of super-transporter on the Dauntless, he wasn’t beaming Harry off the ship.

As he did this, the image of the Dauntless on the viewscreen began to change from the Federation looking ship to something definitely never came out of Utopia Planitia, “Looks like Tuvok was right,” Harry muttered as he unlocked protocols between the ship and Zim. “Zim! Lock onto the _Dauntless_ and shoot to disable if it looks like she’s going to activate the slipstream drive!”

He apparated to his room before getting a reply and he quickly donned his armor that had already opened with a mental command. Another jump back to the bridge had Harry giving a sigh of relief. The faux Dauntless had not gone into the slipstream but Harry knew that it was probably only a matter of time. He really didn’t want to fire on the ship given it held everyone on it at the moment.

As he apparated away, Harry prayed that Arturis would monologue for a bit like a good villain should.

**OoOoO**

In her time in the Delta Quadrant, Janeway had felt despair quite often. But right now, the worst thing she felt was the utter helplessness. Trapped on the now mostly alien bridge with Seven and the rest of the Alpha shift crew, all she could do was listen as Arturis crowed about his plan to get his revenge for his people who had recently fallen to the Borg.

“So instead of you and the few of your people left working to help other races survive the Borg, you’re just going to give up and indulge in some petty revenge before allowing yourself to be assimilated?” Janeway said coldly. At least whatever linguistic magic Arturis had used on them had faded as the reality of what he had done became apparent.

“So self-righteous, Commodore. So typical of your species. Always from the moral high ground. You don’t have the capacity to understand how futile that course of action would be,” Arturis sneered. “As soon as the Collective fully assimilates my people’s technology and adapts it to their Cubes, there is nowhere in the galaxy that any species will be able to hide from the Borg. You didn’t just doom my people; you have given the keys to the entire universe over to the Borg. I am merely allowing myself a modicum of ‘petty revenge’ as you say before I bow to the inevitable.” Arturis said before he turned and began to bring the quantum slipstream drive to full power.

“Inevitable? Hope makes a mockery of what is felt to be inevitable in my experience,” a voice from one side of the bridge said.

Arturis whirled (as did most on the bridge) to see Harry in his Iron Man styled armor appear out of thin air. “You!”

“Me!” Harry said before he made a gesture with both hands, “ _ **Fulmen Potentia!**_ ” Bright, blue-white energy leapt from Harry’s hands to strike Arturis who screamed in pain for a few seconds before losing consciousness and slumping to the floor. Even then, little bursts of energy flitted around the alien’s body for a moment or two.

“Count yourself lucky I didn’t use the _Cruciatus Curse_ , you smug twat,” Harry said as he stepped out of his armor. Another wave of his hands and Arturis was suddenly bound in chains.

Harry sighed, “Okay people, we’re in a bit of a bind. I’m thinking that Arturis wasn’t too nice about where he beamed people to be. But until I can get into his brain and dig out some stuff, I don’t want anyone doing anything. Who knows what sort of fail-safes and the like he might have?”

Janeway took a step forward but stopped herself from going any further, “Harry…I…”

Harry waved Janeway off, “Save it, Kathy. You all got linguistically curb-stomped. Anything you all said was due to him pressing all the right buttons. I’ve seen the same effect due to emotion-warping wards to know it wasn’t you speaking. Right now, I’m more worried about getting us off this ship. We can worry about everything else after that.”

Janeway nodded as she took a step back to stand next to Chakotay as Harry knelt over the still twitching Arturis.

“You know…Arturis might have wanted his revenge for all the wrong reasons but he’s right you know,” Chakotay said quietly. “How will anyone be able to stand against the Borg if they can travel an entire quadrant in the time it takes most races to get a quarter of a way through their own territory? Overwhelm the more technologically advanced civilizations and police up the rest at their leisure. Our entire galaxy might be all Borg mere months after the bulk of their Cubes adapt to using the slipstream drive. Look how much damage one Cube did at the Battle of Wolf 359! The Federation and all the rest would fall quickly if a fleet like we saw go up against Species 8472 suddenly showed up.”

Janeway snorted, “Not to mention the Cube involved in the incident above Alpha Centauri where the Enterprise prevented the original warp test by Zefram Cochrane being disrupted by the Borg Queen.”

Chakotay nodded, “I remember reading a paper by one of the historians on the Enterprise who worked out that if the Vulcan’s hadn’t detected the test at that time, it was probable that Alpha Centauri and Earth would have been found by the Andorians first given records of their fleet movements of the time.”

Janeway snorted, “Which would have doomed the Federation before it started.”

“Exactly,” Chakotay said.

Janeway was silent for a moment, “Perhaps we should make contact with Species 8472 again and see if there is anything in our dimension they would want enough to risk fighting the Borg again for. Hopefully, they could find a counter to the nanotech torpedoes before the Borg deploy the slipstream technology.”

“That or hope the Borg taking over is something the Q would find boring. I mean there still is a lot of speculation why Q alerted us to the Borg in the first place. I mean maybe he didn’t want the Borg messing with his toys given how much he plays around with Picard and now us,” Chakotay said slowly.

“The idea that our galaxy’s survival against the Borg might hinge on Q’s childish actions is something that will darken my dreams so thanks for that image,” Janeway said dryly.

Chakotay shrugged, “Even so; Arturis was right. We inadvertently have given the Borg the galaxy. With such technology and patience, they could spread out throughout the universe till everything is Borg.”

Janeway looked to where Harry was holding Arturis’ head in his hands and peering into eyes wide with what could only be described as terror. The enormity of the consequences of her previous decision began to set in.

Luckily for her, Chakotay caught her before she hit the floor as she fainted.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

**Slaver Stasis Box** : This is taken from **Keith Laumer’s** _Man-Kzin Wars_ series and the _Star Trek Animated Series_ episode **The Slaver’s Weapon** in particular. The Star Date Chakotay gave is the date of that episode where Spock, Uhura & Sulu are captured by renegade Kzin while transporting the Slaver’s stasis box. I only changed that it was found in the border, buffer zone between the Federation and the Kzin Hegemony instead of on the Kzin homeworld as stated in that episode due to using the Starfleet Battles universe model.

 **Arturis Wormtongue** : I realize I am inventing a power for Arturis. However, it is one that I believe is within reason. As Treana said, being able to read language so well and instinctively, well you would rapidly be able to weaponize that language. Using choice words, body language, tone and the like, it would be easy to play each person’s biases and preconceptions against them. Riker, for example, would be a prime example given he was willing to leave Harry behind last chapter. So, I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to have a polyglot like Arturis be able to use his abilities to manipulate people into doing what he wants. That and his people’s technology is higher than the Federation’s so you figure they are used to dealing with ‘lesser’ races.

 **The Horrifying Consequences of Scorpion I & II**: Star Trek, like so many TV shows, are often really good at ignoring some major thing that happens in one episode that should have huge consequences going forward. The assimilation of Species 116 is one of those events. Though it does make you wonder. On one hand, you can see the Borg being very interested in assimilating Species 116 due to their technology and yet at the same time not being able to do the same to the Federation. Of course, that’s just the writer’s hoping we don’t notice. Look how many Federation ships have to be used to deal with ONE Cube. Now we don’t know how new the transwarp nebula seen in Endgame was. Maybe it was new and built using tech from Arturis’ people. But the evidence of the show argues against that since it’s not a bunch of slipstream corridors but a collection of what look like Borg created wormholes. Regardless of its origins, again we’ve seen what just ONE Cube can do and from the Endgame episode we KNOW that the Borg could send ships directly to the Solar System. Why haven’t they done so? We know that the Queen is rather obsessed with humans.

More to the point, somehow even with quantum slipstream technology, 17 years into the future, the Borg still aren’t ruling everything. It really makes no sense except for the simple truth that the writers hoped none of us noticed this fact. Luckily for them, most people watching a show simply accept it. It’s not till fan-fic writers like myself start picking at the stories that we start to see the HUGE gaps in logic.

( _I had to watch the movie_ _ **Aliens**_ _five time before it dawned on me how monumentally stupid the Marines were for not immediately calling a transport down to the surface the minute they got back to the compound. That and they could have left Bishop (safe from the aliens as a replicant) and taken some of the civilian transports seen in the initial landing and just boogied away from the compound. Even if the aliens followed (on foot) and somehow could keep up, I’d much rather deal with a horde of xenomorphs on a flat, open plain than where they cann’t come through the floor or ceiling. So yeah, call down the ship and just have Bishop pick them up from wherever they are at that time. Back up to the ship and one “nuke from orbit” later, game over man!)_

Even if ships took the long way around, how is it that the Borg only seem to send one Cube at a time into the Alpha Quadrant? We know they’re in the Beta Quadrant; shouldn’t take them that long to send a fleet of a few Cubes into the Alpha Quadrant and start quietly assimilating a few species with little to no technology just to get a pool of drones. Plus, even if the Borg can just send one or two Cubes at once into the Alpha Quadrant, why didn’t they do this during the height of the Dominion War when the bulk of both the Klingon and Federation forces are tied up in war? The Borg were always one writer’s need away from being an unstoppable force to being more of a paper-tiger.

 **Fighter Squadrons** : I should hope most of you have caught the whole schema of the fighter squadrons. You have Red Squadron (Gryffindor) whose leader’s call sign is Aslan (lion) just as Gold Squadron (Hufflepuff) leader’s call sign is Badger. Likewise, with Blue Squadron (Raven leader of Ravenclaw) and Green Squadron (Basilisk leader of Slytherin). I haven’t picked who Red-5 is but their call sign is Skywalker!

**Translations**

bIHegh jIH: Klingon for “ _I will kill you!_ ”

Fulmen Potentia: Force Lightning. A spell I had Harry create in my fic, _HP and the Thin Blue_ _Line_ after playing a lot of _Knights of the Old Republic_ with his kids.

 **Star Trek: First Contact** : Obviously by using the original Star Trek canon, this film had to be ignored. Then I realized that the basics of the film could still be used if one changes the venue to Alpha Centauri and just do away with any contact between the Enterprise crew and the surface and keep the tension in space.


	14. Counterpoint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Brenari refugees have been changed to a different type of group of that race to better suit this chapter. It is not an error.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction_.” **Criss Jami** ( **The Killosopher)** – American existentialist poet, songwriter and essayist – 1987-

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 08-25-2020

_Commodore’s Log, Star Date 51840.3. After a narrow escape from being assimilated by the Borg through the machinations of Arturis, we find ourselves in a quandary. Much of the space ahead of us is claimed by the Devore Imperium, a highly xenophobic race with ships much larger than Voyager. Initial reports about the Imperium show gaining access through their territory will be difficult. Going around them will add significant time to our already long trip and there are dangers to both side of the Imperium almost as dangerous as the Devore themselves._

_This new barrier to the fleet getting home comes after a bit of good news. Through methods Harry Potter admits were distasteful, he was able to gain enough information from Arturis to be able to program the ship to jump to the Alpha Quadrant. Using a course and speed felt to be the safest, the faux Dauntless will hopefully make contact with the Federation in 3 months’ time. In the interest of safety, no biological crew will be onboard. Instead it will be crewed by droids of Harry’s creation. These droids will be under the control of a specialized data bank housing the entirety of a full copy of the Doctor’s and Zim’s programming. They will be our ambassadors back to Starfleet. Going with them are all our logs as well as all the technology and tactical information we have gathered so far. Of course, this includes all the messages from the crew back to their loved ones, families and governments. Even if it takes the full 60 years or more to return to Federation space, at least those back home know we’re still fighting to get return to them as fast as we can. It will hopefully give them some measure of closure even as it alerts them of how both here and those back home will be moving on with our lives._

_Additionally, it is hoped the geniuses at Utopia Planitia will be able to reverse-engineer the technology from the ship. Hopefully, this will help in the war with the Dominion and give the Federation and others a chance against the Borg._

_None of this, of course, helps us in our current conundrum of how to either sneak through Devore space or convince a rabidly xenophobic race that we’re indeed, just passing through._

**XxXxX**

**FLEET ROOM, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 41, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51841.2**

“While the offer, is genuine, I am unsettled that this Kurros felt it best to beam his isomorphic projection onto _Voyager_ instead of hailing us with the offer as is standard communication protocol throughout the known galaxy,” Tuvok said with an irritated look on his face.

Around the table, there were many nods at this but V’Lana shook her head, “Ah but that doesn’t show any sort of power, Tuvok. By just showing up in the Commodore’s room, he’s demonstrating that he and his think-tank have the capability to penetrate our defenses. In a way, he was providing some proof that they are worth the price.”

Janeway took a sip from her coffee, “I can’t help but be suspicious. First we have a problem in getting back to the Alpha Quadrant faster than the long haul and Arturis showed up to exploit that. Now we have a barrier to get through and lo and behold we have another group showing up to help us.”

“Well if you go around looking for difficult problems to solve, you would tend to have to show up around people having problems,” Harry said from his seat next to Seven. “What I don’t like about it is that from the little we know of this think-tank’s actions from the records we copied from the Zahl and the Terkellians is that they show up around people who are desperate. That’s what’s setting off my red flags. Again if they are the intellectual equivalent of adrenaline junkies, I could see them going for the really hard problems. My worry is less about the problem and more of the desperation by the client.”

“Indeed. We are much more likely to accept their help and whatever their price may be simply because there is little alternative,” Tuvok agreed.

“Do we have any idea what they might ask for,” Chakotay asked. “Unique items could mean a lot of different things. Given we’re from the Alpha Quadrant…well practically anything we have is unique.”

“Maybe we can give them Arturis. With his people assimilated, there are few of his kind left. With his big brain, it sounds like he’d fit right in with them,” B’Elanna said with a scowl.

Janeway gave her chief engineer a flat look, “People aren’t trade goods, B’Elanna.”

B’Elanna didn’t seem phased by the rebuke as she simply shrugged in response, “True but given how dangerous Arturis and his magic voice is, he’s not only rather unique but keeping him contained would be a challenge and you said this Kurros and his team like challenges. Better them than us having to do it.”

“I believe the protections Captain Potter have put into place are more than adequate,” Captain Tahl said dryly. “For my part, I also have to feel suspicious of the fact that this is all coming at a time that we’re being asked to smuggle Brenari agents into Devore space. As being from a telepathic race myself, I sympathize with them. However, even with the issue with the Borg, I believe it should be quite well known that _Voyager_ and its crew trends towards humanitarian actions. So as Captain Potter said, the Brenari would ask if we weren’t here but it does mean we might have even more reason to travel through Devore space and thus need Kurros’ help.

After twenty or so minutes of further debate, Janeway finally stood up, “It is obvious that we must be cautious. Luckily, we have the luxury of time. The Brenari do not have a time constraint and we have plenty of time to take in order to make the best decision. I think it best that we pursue the other options brought up as I try to find out what the price for Kurros’ help is.

**XxXxX**

**MAXIMUM SECURITY BRIG, USS VOYAGER, SECTOR 41, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51844.6**

Arturis looked up from the book he was reading at the slight pop of air. His people’s gift of language extended to the written so it had not taken long for him to be able to read the various books onboard the fleet. He had wondered if he’d ever be given access to the vast library in the databanks.

“I’m surprised to see you,” Arturis said. “I would think it more prudent for any contact with me be done via a screen. That way you could artificially distort what I say.”

Harry shrugged as he gave the high-security brig a quick once over, “Your language skill is subtle and works best on the unawares. Besides, after today, either we will be doing that or it won’t matter.”

Arturis closed his book and shifted from where he lay on his bed to a seated position, “That sounds rather ominous.”

Harry smirked, “Take it as you like. Actually I’m here because we need your help. After some thought I figured out a way to get that help from you in a way which will allow us to give you your freedom. Or at least freedom enough so that you’re out of the brig. You’re too valuable to just let go. You may think the fight against the Borg is futile but I’m not going to throw away someone of your skills simply because you think it’s hopeless.”

Arturis raised an eyebrow, “My help? A short while ago I almost had your entire fleet assimilated into the Collective. Now you’re willing to work with me? I find that a bit hard to believe.”

Harry waved his hand and conjured a lounge chair for himself and sat down in it. “Yet here we are. Look Arturis, what you did was terrible but I am one who understands the sheer amount of anger and despair that drove you through it. You haven’t had 200 or so years of watching thousands of sentients get assimilated before your eyes. You haven’t had to listen to their screams as all of what they are is eaten away by the Borg. You simply are imagining the horror of what was done to your people. I’ve lived having to witness that horror as it happened. So I’m willing to cut you a little slack for being focused on the wrong thing. However, that point is moot, if you agree to help us, you won’t be able to try your hand at revenge again.”

Arturis crossed his arms against his chest, “Again, that sounds ominous. What is it that you need my help with?”

“What do you know of the Devore Imperium?” Harry asked.

Arturis snorted, “That they are an inferior species with a tech level far higher than their intellect should be allowed to have. It is one thing to be cautious around other species, it is another to continue to see every sentient not of your race as suspect out of hand.”

“They are a bunch of xenophobic fascists, aren’t they?” Harry said with a chuckle. “Well unfortunately for us their space is the best route back home. Going around has a lot of problems and we’re trying to finagle a way through their space. However, we have plenty of telepaths onboard and while I have a way to hide them, when we get inspected, they’d get suspicious where all are telepaths went.”

Arturis face brightened up, “Ah. You want me to go through and make a systematic change to your records.”

“Exactly,” Harry beamed. “A lot of the back-stories are easy. Vorik was killed by B’Elanna during their Pon Farr fight. Tuvok was with Suder when the Kazons took over the ship and died with him. Sohn was killed in the Q civil war. Making up a plausible story is one thing. But that means we have to alter all the records of actions of our telepaths after the moment of their supposed deaths. That’s beyond our means in the time we have. You, on the other hand, were able to steal Voyager’s data and not only craft your ship to fool us but create an entire fake database good enough to fool us in further. If you can do that, I’m pretty sure you can fool the Devore.”

Arturis was silent for a moment before nodding, “Yes. A difficult task but with full access to _Voyager’s_ database it is doable. However, with my command of coding, I could easily insert various things in that would either change at a predetermined time or I could leave in things I know that the Devore would see but your people wouldn’t catch. I do not see how you could stop me from betraying you.”

“That’s because you’ve never been exposed to a wizard before. You and the rest of the crew have seen only a fraction of what I can do,” Harry explained. “If I wanted to, I could cast a spell that would make you do anything I told you. However, it’s a dark spell and with your intellect, you’d be fighting it all the time. However, using that spell would be coming from an attitude of fear. I respect the threat you could represent but I don’t have to fear you. I acknowledge your position isn’t one where you have a lot to bargain with, but I’d much rather get you onboard with helping us without resorting to morally repugnant actions.”

Arturis mulled this but before he could speak, Harry locked eyes with him. His green eyes cold, “However, I’ve done a _**lot**_ of morally repugnant things in my lifetime. I accept the burden of those actions and don’t try to pretty them up. Just because I don’t want to do a thing doesn’t mean I won’t do such a thing if pushed. I just want you to know that in this you’re dealing with _**me**_ and not Janeway and her Starfleet rules.”

Arturis gave out a dry chuckle, “I understand. And thank you. It’s refreshing to speak with someone who is honest about how things are and not how things we wish them to be. I am in your power and am at the mercy of how far you wish to go relative to the cost. So, what will you due to keep me from betraying you?”

Harry gestured and a table and chair appeared. A further wave made a piece of parchment and a pen appear on the table, “Back when I was leading a rebellion against fascists who were running the magical school I was in, my best friend came up with a rather ingenious way to ensure we knew about traitors. Sadly, her method wasn’t thought through well enough but in her defense she was only 16 years old at the time. My version is much better.”

Arturis got up from the bed and sat in the provided chair. He quickly skimmed the document. “Ah…your magic compels me if I sign, correct? Yes, this is clever. I also can guess how your friend made mistakes. Too much leeway in the wording can allow all sorts of ways of interpretation. Focusing on intent is much more secure,” Arturis said.

“As I said, I’ve been around the block to know how people could get around things. Your skill with language makes it even more of a challenge. But intent? You can’t fake that,” Harry said with a satisfied smile.

Arturis read the document again before putting it down and looking at Harry with an appraising look, “If I agree to this, I take it I would be given more freedom as long as I do not leave your fleet? While that is tempting, I doubt the rest of the crew would be so open to my being able to go where I wish.”

Harry shrugged, “True but on the other hand if these people want to wear uniforms and have a command structure, well they need to follow orders, yes? However, it might be best that you stay on my ship at first. On the other hand, there are plenty of science nerds in the crew that will see your attempt to kill them as being less important as getting access to your language skills. Plus, as the document attests, you’re under _**my**_ protection. By now I would hope the crew realizes that brassing me off is a bad idea.”

Arturis sighed, “I wish I’d known that prior to my plot against Janeway. I would have made sure you were neutralized before I made my move. You are simply too much of an unknown to deal with.”

Harry laughed, “You aren’t the first to think that. So what do you say? It’s not perfect but it’s better than staring at these four walls for who knows how long?”

Arturis nodded, “As you say. I will sign. My people were never one to remain idle. This confinement would drive me insane if it were to continue. If I’m to be a reluctant guest of your fleet, I might as well make use of the time.”

“That’s the spirit!” Harry said as he watched Arturis sign and the flare of magic as the contract took hold. “As time goes by, I’m sure we’ll find plenty of new races for you to learn about and expand your linguistic horizons.”

**XxXxX**

**MAIN DECK , THE THINK TANK, SECTOR 41, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51846.2**

“While this is an impressive vessel with unique opportunities, I fail to see why you find me unique. Drones taken out of the Collective, while rare, are not unheard of. The major differences between myself and the other former drones in our fleet is they did not undergo being put through the maturation process. I fail to see how that makes me anymore unique than the others,” Seven said.

Janeway nodded, “And if you find her unique due to her being able to regain her humanity, if she were to stay, she would be turning her back on the very people who made such a leap possible. That and because of those bonds which continue to grow, it makes her less likely to agree even if I was inclined to let her go. In some ways, Seven could be seen as a child still in need of guidance.”

Kurros spread his hands, “I understand your concerns. I myself faced such things when I was recruited. And to be blunt, but this team is known throughout this region as being some of the most premiere intellects. I would hope you could entertain the thought that we might see Seven of Nine in a different light than you. However, regardless of the honor of being invited, we understand it is a big step. Take some time to think of it. We will remain nearby and await your decision. We have many problems we are working on that do not require us to be in a particular place while working on them. This offer to Seven of Nine is independent of our offer in regard to the Devore. While we shall refuse to help you with your issue with the Devore is she declines now, if Seven of Nine decides later to accept our offer, then we shall gladly welcome her aboard.”

Janeway was silent for a moment before nodding, “We shall think on what you’ve said. As much as I wish to protect Seven, I would be remiss in denying her an opportunity such as your offer. I would like her to have more time to think on it and discuss it with those of my crew she is close to.”

Kurros nodded, “Of course, Commodore. Regardless of the path you choose, we will be waiting for Seven of Nine’s eventual answer.” With a gesture, Janeway and Seven found themselves being beamed back to Voyager and into Janeway’s ready room.

Seven scowled, “I am beginning to understand why so many of the crew become irritated while working with me. If they perceive me in the same way as I am feeling about Kurros, then I am starting to understand the reason for their irritation.”

Janeway chuckled, “No one likes a smart-ass Seven. Especially when that smart-ass is right more often than not. Still, I agree. Kurros and company do very much project a ‘we are so much better than you’ sort of vibe. Do you think you may be tempted to take them up on their offer after you’ve had time to think on it?”

Seven shook her head, “No. I continue to suspect their motives. However, they could easily have just taken me off Voyager. In time, I might have become more compliant with their goals given I would have little choice in the matter.”

Janeway also shook her head, “True, but no matter how much of an honor they make the invitation to be, their offer still makes you out to be an object to be traded instead of a real person. I’m not about to give away that person just to get us through Devore space.”

Seven nodded, “Thank you, Commodore. It does help that Harry Potter’s plan using Arturis’ skills appears to be far more workable.”

Janeway sighed, “It looks like we’ll find out, now won’t we?”

**XxXxX**

**BRIDGE, USS EQUINOX, SECTOR 43, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51865.2**

“Is that a threat, captain?” Prax asked menacingly if not eagerly.

“No, Major Prax. It is a statement of my irritation that you cannot seem to trust your own instruments and so resort to needlessly badgering my crew with questions we’ve answered the same way as we have done in the last six inspections,” Tahl said coldly. “While I understand that your people do not like telepaths, I would hope an advanced culture like the Devore would have common curtesy not to poke at old wounds. Do you think I like what the Borg did to me? What they took for me? It is like going through life half-blind. I have to live with it every hour of every day as do the rest of my Romulan compatriots. We do not need your constant carping on it! If you were missing your legs, I wouldn’t be poking your stubs and wondering if you really lost your legs or were somehow trying to fool me with your disability. Now, we agreed to these inspections. You have inspected us! Unless you have found something different than the last six times, I expect you to be on your way, Major.”

Prax did not seem intimidated as he sneered, “I’ll see your ship impounded for your insolence!”

Tahl laughed in his face, “I’m sure you would if you were in charge. But you’re not, are you? So why don’t you run off and take your complaints to your commander. At least Colonel Kashyk views these continued inspections to be just as tedious and only done because bureaucrats on your home world seem to think they are needed. I would have thought a soldier like yourself would be tired of doing busy work for civilians who sit behind a desk all day with no concept what it is like out here in space.”

Prax scowled darkly and turned, made a motion to his men and left the bridge.

After they were gone, Dhael turned to her captain, “Is it wise to push him, Commander? He is looking for the smallest excuse to do us wrong.”

Tahl laughed as he itched around where the faux Borg implants met his flesh. While not real, they did act to hide his innate abilities from detection. They were uncomfortable and brought back bad memories of his time in the Borg. “Exactly why I push him. It is one thing to be rather meek and respectful at first, but if we have nothing to hide, any sentient in our position would begin to become irritated at the continued probing. By showing our teeth, we further help with the charade that we have nothing to hide.”

Dhael looked unconvinced but she respected her captain’s judgement.

Tahl looked at his status board reader to see that the Devore teams had beamed away. He couldn’t help but wish that the smug Prax would try and impound his ship. Then the Devore would find that the sheer size of their vessels was a poor indication of real combat capability.

**OoOoO**

“This container has an anomalous reading!” the Devore sergeant said after reading his instrument’s report.

Harry sighed, “Yes it does. Just like it has the last six times you folks have scanned it.” He made a gesture to Veer who opened the container that was about half the size of a shuttle. “As you can see, it’s as empty now and as it was the last six times we showed you people. And I’ll tell you again that the readings are because I augmented the container to increase its tensile strength.”

Major Prax strode up with the look of someone who was expecting trouble and enjoyed that expectation, “What have you found?”

Harry sighed again, “He found the same thing your people always find! Merlin! Do you people do a brain dump after every inspection? Look here!” Harry walked over to where an empty power converter case was stored next to ones still in their containers. “Now watch this.” He then proceeded to turn the empty container into a corgi which then began to bark a bit and run around Harry before he turned it back to a box. “Now scan that box. You’re going to find it has the same anomalous reading! As I have explained every time you show up! My magic leaves a trace! Hell, if it weren’t for the nanotech in my body I adapted to keep me from being assimilated by the Borg, I’d probably melt your machine with an anomalous reading!”

Major Prax scowled. It did seem to be his default expression in most situations. “You and your people are becoming combative. This will not be tolerated.”

Harry ran a hand through his hair, “And you and your people are like a broken record! You keep us under constant surveillance, you monitor our approved route and you show up and find the same damn readings and you seem surprised we’re getting brassed off? You’re not finding anything because there isn’t anything to find! Now get the hell off my ship before I turn you into a corgi. At least you’d be cute while being irritating!”

**OoOoO**

Colonel Kashyk smiled as he watched his fuming second leave. “You know, Kathryn; your people aren’t making this easy for you.”

Janeway shrugged as she sat in the chair normally used when she was talking to them. Now Kashyk was in her chair and she just had to grit her teeth and get through it. “Well it would help if your people treated us less like scum and more like fellow spacefarers. Given we’ve survived this long in the Delta Quadrant away from our people and fleet support, I’d expect a modicum of respect. Even more so given we’ve met and continue to meet every metric your people put upon us to get through your space. Just like you, we are a proud people and we’re not used to be treated like criminals.”

Kashyk laughed and sat back for a minute, the sounds of Mahler’s Second Symphony filled the room. Finally he said, “That is true Commodore. Still, I think you will find it unwise to be anything other than pliant. You are, as they say, at our mercy.”

“Mercy?” Janeway said dryly, “Is that what you call the outright contempt and suspicion we’ve encountered since the moment we made contact with your people? I can understand your Imperium’s position. However, we are trying to get home. I fail to see how that is anyway surprising or why we would have any desire to interfere with your people.”

Kashyk gave Janeway a knowing look, “Come, come, Commodore; you had no trouble interfering when it came to the war between the Collective and the aliens from Fluidic Space. You also just recently helped the Terkellians. Hardly the actions of a non-interested party.”

Janeway made a dismissive gesture, “At the time we felt that Species 8472 was a threat to all life in this Quadrant. Regardless of how that turned out not to be correct, we acted on it. As for the Nihydron pirates, they were criminals. Helping the Terkellians was not only a transaction for needed supplies but being true to what any fleet does, keeping the peace and enforcing the law. Are you not sitting here to ensure your Imperium stays safe and your laws are being honored? We would have done the same for you if you had had a similar problem with such pirates.”

Kashyk laughed, “Well said, Commodore! Now, how about we have dinner. I have found some interesting things in your database to talk about over some of your fine Earth foods.”

Janeway shook her head in amazement, “You Devore have a strange way of inviting a lady to dinner. Does it always start with a police action?”

Kashyk laughed again, “Only the very best dates!”

**OoOoO**

“I must say, Harry, that while I’ve seen you do some pretty impressive things, this tent of yours is the most impressive,” V’Lana said as she walked around as Harry inspected the furniture for and degradation as they were all transfigured from other materials.

Harry smiled, “Well I’m pretty impressed I was able to pull it off. This branch of magic is pretty much a niche bit of sorcery used mostly by those few who make such things. The only reason I was able to do this is I made a point of learning such magics after the Second Voldemort War and used it extensively throughout the Eugenics War. Made long-stake outs a lot more comfortable. I’m sure my friend Hermione would be impressed. Of course I tried to make it more comfortable than the tent I lived in for the better part of a year.”

V’Lana nodded as she followed Harry out of the tent and out of the container. The Brenari infiltrators as well as the fleet’s Vulcans and Betazoids milled about nearby. “I can imagine. Still, it’s impressive how you mask it all from the Devorian sensors.”

Harry smirked as he took the drinking tube offered up by Veer’s back arm as he continued to work on his PADD. “Thanks Veer. As to shielding; beyond all the tricks I learned running from Voldemort, I learned to spoof all sorts of sensors during the Eugenics War. This education went even further during my time with the Borg. Hiding from the Collective on one of their own Cubes is no mean feat, let me tell you!”

“But I am still confused over one thing. Not once did any of the Devore just walk into the container to scan it further. Given their paranoia, I’d expect at least one of them to do it,’ V’Lana asked.

“I’m sure they normally would. However, beyond part of the Notice-Me-Not type spells, I also have some aversion wards,” Harry explained. “Normally such wards would make it such that they’d never even notice the container in the first place. However, since they are looking through security logs and the like, they’d get suspicious if no one seemed to notice this huge container in the bay they were inspecting. So in this case, the ward can be powerful but subtle. That and the fact that for their readings, actually walking in wouldn’t make a lick of difference.”

“That makes sense,” V’Lana said. “It beats your first idea of simply transfiguring all of us telepaths into inanimate objects.”

Harry nodded, “While that would have been easier, the minute we found out how many inspections we’d have to endure…well it’s just not a workable solution especially for sentient beings. You’d all be psychotic by the time we crossed Devore space.”

“Well listening to what the others have said, I think some of the crew is going to go that route if they have to deal with many more of these inspections,” V’Lana said with a grin.

“Don’t remind me,” Harry groaned. “I dream of spacing Prax most nights. He reminds me of an amalgamation of my old school enemy Draco merged with his two goons Crabbe and Goyle. Not the memories I want to be dredged up, that’s for sure.”

**XxXxX**

**BRIDGE, THE PHOENIX, SECTOR 42, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51886.2**

“Cloaking system ready,” Alars said from his station behind Harry.

“Veer?” Harry asked.

“ _Hugin_ and _Munin_ are in position and their camouflage systems are online and ready to go,” Veer replied from his own station parallel with Alars.

“Right. Initiate the phased cloak and engage the camo system,” Harry ordered as he himself worked to ensure both happened in perfect tandem with each other.

If anyone had been looking out a viewport, they’d have seen the strange sight of the two, small, former Hazari vessels flying in tight formation shimmer into the form of the Phoenix even as that ship flying close by, faded from view. While they had yet to use the two former Hazari ships as the long-ranged scouts they had been made into, they did make it possible for this gambit to go forward.

A few minutes went by before Veer called out, “That is the go code from _Voyager_. Transition was well within the tolerances of evading detection by Devore sensors.”

Harry looked up to where Seven stood next to his command chair, “Well first we sneak off and drop off our Brenari friends and then go see what Kurros and his fellow Ravenclaws want now.”

**OoOoO**

“It saddens us that you feel that way, Seven of Nine. However the time for refusing our offer is over,” Kurros said in a tone which didn’t sound at all that sad.

“Here it comes,” Harry muttered to himself.

Kurros, however, heard him, “Very perceptive Captain Potter. Bevvox has had to change her mind what we wanted out of this action quite a few times due to the complications which continued to plague our efforts to predict them. Initially we had planned for the Hazari bounty hunters we hired to capture your ships. After the ships and the crew were sold off to the highest bidder, it was felt you would jump at our offer of sanctuary. Yet Captain Potter’s interference in that plan meant that initial attempt did not go as expected. However, your actions in saving the crew from assimilation did allow us the time to predict your next move and how to counter it.”

“You set us up,” Harry said flatly. “It was you working through agents I’m betting who got the Brenari to contact us. It’s one thing to try and hide our own telepaths. It’s another thing entirely to actively bring in agents working to help refugees escape persecution.”

Kurros spread his hands as he smirked slightly, “You are very perceptive, Captain Potter. I am sure you too will enjoy working with us. As much as we initially felt Seven of Nine would make a fine addition to our crew, you are the most unique being we have encounter outside an ascendant being like a Q.”

Seven’s eyebrow went up in surprise, “I fail to see how you believe that Harry would consent to such an arrangement. While I have little in the way to keep from complying with your demands, he is most capable.”

Kurros’ smile deepened, “Oh we are fully aware of it. Yet, the renegade Arturis is not the only one who was able to make off with _Voyager’s_ logs and such. In them, we found an interesting reference to Captain Potter’s perchance for heroism. His ‘saving people thing’ as it were. Now he has a chance to once again save his people he cares for. In exchange for your cooperation and acceptance in staying with us, we have an agreement with the Devore for them to let your fleet continue through their space without any further interruptions. However, with but one coded transmission, they will be alerted to your role in bringing in enemies of the Imperium into their space. For all of Colonel Kashyk’s fascination with your people and your Commodore, the Devore High Command will instruct their fleet to destroy your vessels and leave no survivors. It is their way of sending a message to the nearby powers of their determination.”

Seven turned to Harry who stood there rigid, his hands clenched into tight fists, “It seems we have little choice but to comply.”

Kurros nodded, “We plotted out this course of action most carefully. In your parlance; checkmate.”

Harry was silent before he began to chuckle. This chuckle turned into a bitter laugh. “Checkmate? CHECKMATE? Let me tell you something Kurros. I twice survived magicks that had killed every person they touched throughout our history. I was told our entire magical world was doomed but I found a loophole and saved my people. If it weren’t for an errant wormhole, I would have saved the best and the brightest from my home world. Even then I staved off assimilation into the Collective while being under their cybernetic noses the entire time. I’ve faced a 20-meter demon snake that could kill with a glance and I killed it. I outflew a dragon and chased off a horde of soul-sucking monsters with a spell most adult wizards would be hard pressed to fend off one of those vile creatures. So you think you have me checkmated?”

Kurros’ face hardened, “There is nothing you can do to save your people if you do not stop resisting. We have looked at every avenue you might take. There is no course you can chart that ends in your victory.”

Harry laughed a cruel and bitter laugh, “That’s because you are thinking logically. Magic makes logic it’s bitch, my nerdy friend.” Harry suddenly reached out and grabbed Seven in one hand as he manifested the Elder Wand in the other. _“_ _ **IGNIS INFERNALIS**_ _!_ ” Harry shouted at the top of his lungs. Immediately a flood of fire erupted from his wand. The artificial lifeform barely had time to squeal before it was consumed. “ _ **Now**_ it’s checkmate,” Harry snarled before apparating with Seven back to where the Phoenix was waiting, still hidden under its cloak.

“Send the signal!” Kurros shouted out as he dashed out of the room. “Send the signal now!” He almost made it to his private shuttle before being consumed by flames in the shape of a basilisk.

**OoOoO**

“The _Marianne_ is drifting without power and both _Voyager_ and the _Equinox_ have sustained damage. Automated fighters are engaging but fourteen have already been destroyed. Only minor damage to the Devore dreadnaught. The two cruisers are in worse shape but still are capable of projecting significant combat power,” Veer said in a surprisingly flat tone as the Phoenix got within sensor range.

“It appears that Kurros was as good as his word, Harry,” Seven said in a tone devoid of emotion.

“Don’t count your galleons out yet, Seven,” Harry said through gritted teeth as Borg-like sensor tethers jacked into all of Harry’s nanotech ports instead of the usual two beneath his collar-bones.

All around them, a grinding, groaning sound was heard as Harry muttered in almost a mechanical voice, “Armor deployed,” If Seven could see the hull, she’d recognize much of the armor now surrounding most of the ship as being similar to the modification her team had made on Voyager when she still was a drone.

“Captain!” Alars cried out in alarm as the ship dropped out of warp even as it accelerated almost to full speed towards the battle. “We won’t make it through their defensive screen!”

“ _ **I’ll get us through**_. Seven, strap in and strap in hard,” Harry said through clenched teeth.

As the dagger-like ship raced toward the battle, it was quickly detected and fired upon. Due to the amount of fire, it was obvious the Devore didn’t feel the Phoenix was much of a threat, especially given even the smaller Devorian cruiser could bring a ship the size of the Phoenix into their shuttle bays.

However, as the various particle beam weapons and missiles streaked towards the Phoenix, few hit as the ship seemed to unnaturally be able to jink, slide and roll out of danger. Soon more fire was hastily directed as the Phoenix rapidly shortened the distance between it and the Devore.

“All available power to forward shields and hull integrity,” Harry intoned as if speaking to himself. Inwardly he thought that this was the closest thing to Quidditch he’d probably get in his lifetime. It felt glorious even if the chances of surviving were poor. Still, for a brief moment, Harry felt as if he could feel the wind in his hair, bludgers careening past him, the Snitch desperately trying to get away.

“Captain!” both Alars and Veer all but screamed as Seven called out, “Harry!”

“Rig for collision,” Harry snarled out with a predatory grin. “ _ **Ramming speed!**_ ”

Sentients on all the engaged ships gawked as the Phoenix somehow evaded the onslaught of fire fired before the Phoenix slammed into the Devorian dreadnaught. Even as they cried out, they were further amazed to see the Phoenix exit in one piece from the other side of the ship.

On board Voyager, Janeway waved some smoke out of her eyes, “Report!”

“The _Phoenix_ seems to somehow to have survived the strike. It is, however, rapidly decelerating and seems to be in the process of losing power,” Tuvok said as he leaned closer to his tactical station as a crewman behind him used a fire extinguisher on the panel behind him.

“Incoming transmission from the _Phoenix!_ ’ SLT Mohindra called out.

The message came through patchy and filled with static, “Kathy, you need to tractor the _Marianne_ and the _Phoenix_ away. It doesn’t matter where. Just get away. All of you need to get out of here. I’ll catch up after I finish this,” came the voice of a very tired sounding Harry Potter.

“What does he think he…” Riker started to say but Janeway cut him off with a chopping motion. She hit the direct encrypted frequency to the Equinox, “Tahl, we’re getting out of here and getting out fast. Tractor the _Phoenix_ while we take the _Marianne_. Have the fighters cover us but they are expendable as of now. The best speed we can handle. Potter says he’s going to deal with the Devore and not to hang around while he does it. I’m inclined to make haste to do so.”

Mohindra spoke up after Tahl acknowledged the order, “While the _Phoenix_ is in bad shape, it looks like the crew got beamed over to the _Marianne_.”

“Is Harry with them?” Janeway asked even though she knew the answer.

“No ma’am, he’s not,” Mohindra said in a small voice.

**OoOoO**

“How did this happen? Tell me Colonel? How could we be warned of the danger and have eight inspections and not get but a bare hint of the power of this Harry Potter?” the Devorian Admiral roared at Colonel Kashyk who clung to a support bar as the dreadnaught continued to be wracked by secondary explosions. All around them klaxons were going off and shouts from the crew as they tried to contain the damage on their ship.

“Don’t blame him, Admiral. If the big brains on the Think Tank underestimated me, the good Colonel can hardly be blamed!” Harry said moments after he appeared on the bridge wearing his Iron Man styled armor with the faceplate up.

“Are you here to gloat?” The Admiral spat out. “The other two ships can easily catch your pathetic fleet and keep them in contact. We have an entire fleet at the nearby Starbase. An entire sector fleet. There is no escape for you and those renegades!”

“I’m aware of that base, Admiral. I wonder. Do you think you can make it there in time to escape your doom?” Harry said before his faceplate slammed down. He made a quick gesture which caused Major Prax, who was cradling an injured arm next to the engineering station, to turn into a corgi before disappearing.

“Cut those damn sirens off and stop shouting!” the Admiral shouted over the din. “You are officers of the Devore Imperium! Not panicking school children!”

Presently the klaxons were silenced and the crew’s voices faded to a rushed hum as they continued to feverishly work on how to counter the damage to their ship. This, of course, was punctuated by the annoying barks of the Corgi Prax.

The Admiral finally sat down after conferring with his Chief of Engineer who had dashed off with his orders when a sensor tech cried out, “Sir! We’re reading intense heat building up around the area where the enemy ship rammed us.”

Before he could further question the tech, another tech spoke up, “Admiral! Getting similar readings on the _Pycohn_ and _Rasslev_! It’s not any energy we have on record.

The Admiral looked at Colonel Kashyk and scowled, “Alert all ships. Break off pursuit and make best speed to Galaron Base.”

The crew bent to their task as Colonel Kashyk carefully made his way to the Admiral, “Sir?”

The admiral once again scowled at the junior officer. “You heard that bastard. He up and told us that we’d be lucky to get to base before whatever he has done destroys us. Given what I’ve seen today; I shall take him at his word.”

**OoOoO**

“Commodore!” I’m detecting what appears to be a quasi-Federation signal trailing us,” Tuvok said, breaking into Janeway’s reading of the current damage report.

She turned, “Can you get a better lock on it?”

Tuvok shook his head even as he said, “Sending to Astrometrics; stand-by Commodore.”

A few minutes went by till the comm beeped, “Astrometrics to the bridge,” came Treana’s voice.

“Go ahead,” Janeway ordered.

“It appears to be the scout ships _Hugin_ and _Munin_. I would guess that Harry fiddled with our modifications to mask their Federation technology to more closely match standard Hazari tech. However, both ships seem to be having trouble keeping up.”

“Understood, Janeway out,” the Commodore said before turning back towards the main screen, “Ro, inform the _Equinox_ that we’re slowing down to let Harry catch up.”

“Aye Commodore,” JLT Ro Laren said as she sent the signal to Paris on the Equinox,

After about ten minutes Tuvok spoke up, “It is indeed the _Hugin_ and _Munin_. Also, it appears that there are six _Marauder_ fighters mated up to the hulls.”

Janeway shook her head, “Well let’s reel him in and count up the damage. As soon as that’s done, continue to the Deribe system so we can hide out and make repairs. I’m sure Harry will tell us how he managed to keep the Devore from following us.

**OoOoO**

_**Excerpt from Cadet History Training, Second Year, Level 4. Krenim Fleet Academy press** _

“ _Year 4328_ _was pivotal_ _for the Krenim Empire though few knew it at the time. The first important even was the attack on the Borg by Species 8472 in response to Borg incursions into Fluidic Space. The enormous damage done to the Collective created a lull in their relentless offensive throughout the Quadrant. Then, a seemingly minor incident rapidly became one that brought down the Devorian Imperium. Records from the Terkellian Fleet Command show how the Federation of Planets vessel, the USS Voyager of the Alpha Quadrant (the ship responsible for the defeat of Species 8472) had contacted them for supplies. In return for their help, the small, castaway fleet agreed to destroy a den of Nihydron pirates which had been plaguing the sector for years and even had begun to make incursions into Krenim outer colonial space._

_After successfully destroying the pirates, the Federation fleet returned to its mission to travel back to their home in the Alpha Quadrant. However, this required them to traverse Devorian space. Records are spotty but we know with some certainty that the renegade Bevvox Consortium conspired with the Devore. The Consortium had planned to press-gang two important members of the Federation fleet into their ranks. To do this, they manipulated elements of the Brenari Resistance to ask the Federation fleet to insert them into Devorian space so they could assist extracting refugees suffering under oppression from the Imperium. These Brenari agents would give the Devore the excuse to impound or destroy the Federation fleet and deal a crippling blow to Brenari efforts in their space._

_However, neither the Consortium nor the Imperium were expecting the power displayed by one Harry Potter. A figure that later went on to become one of the most influential sentient in this galaxy as he instigated the Reformation. While that was years in the future, Harry Potter showed his power by utterly destroying the Bevvox Consortium such that its wreck has never been found._

_The Devore Imperium suffered a similar fatal blow. Somehow Harry Potter ignited a form of energy which infected the three ships the Imperium had sent to capture or destroy the Federation fleet. These ships barely made it to the nearby Galaron Base where the Devorian 10_ _th_ _Sector Fleet was docked before being consumed by this energy. Again, reports are spotty, but the energy which had almost destroyed the three ships acted in almost a sentient, guided way. As desperate personnel beamed off the stricken vessels, some of the fire leapt into the transporter stream and thus infected the Starbase._

_Worse, as the three initial ships exploded, the infected wreckage got close enough to other ships, civilian and military, to infect them with the demon fire as well. In a matter of hours, the ships in orbit were burning, killing thousands of naval and maritime crews. The true horror, however, came when Galaron Base fell out of orbit. Survivors who had managed to get their ships away from the initial and subsequent ship explosions reported little in the way of destruction past the expected damage from the impact of the remains of the Starbase. However, the demon fire somehow had lain dormant as it delved into the planet’s crust. A week later, the same fires which had devastated everything in orbit erupted out of the ground all around the globe. Within another week, there was not a spark of life left on Galaron III. Three point seven billion Devorians along with a few thousand from other races died along with the entire biosphere._

_Even at this late day, Galaron III is barely habitable with restoration still mostly at the bacterial, fungal and low life form stage. This restoration continues to be met with resistance. Many in the sector feel it best to leave Galaron III alone less somehow the demon fire might somehow reawaken and spread to nearby systems._

_The loss of the 10_ _th_ _Sector fleet and the facilities and staging capabilities of Galaron Base threw the Devorian High Council into disarray. So much so that the Federation fleet was able to escape out of their space as enemies of the Devore rapidly took advantage of the chaos. This chaos would eventually lead to the Terkellian Protectorate and finally to the Krenim Empire fully absorbing the Terkellians and over 72% of the former Devorian Imperium._

_Even with the current Pax Communis, most of the races in this part of the Delta Quadrant are happy there is so much distance between here and the Alpha Quadrant. One Federation ship challenged the might of the Borg and Species 8472 and survived. Four ships brought down an entire empire. The farther away the humans of the Alpha Quadrant remain, the easier the citizens of this region breathe._

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

**Star Date** : Star dates are weird. I know I’m probably not doing them perfectly. Of course time in the series was always vague. Weeks if not months could go by between episodes with little remarked on it. Funny how in so many episodes, Voyager barely had enough food or fuel to function and yet between episodes where there is a large time jump, this never seemed to be a problem. That or in the 7 years on the ship, it was rare for any character outside the Captain to change their hair, or get promoted, or get older (looking at you Naomi Wildman!) or even switch jobs. Poor Harry Kim and Vorik, the forever ensigns!

**Ramming Speed!** This chapter is an homage to a favorite Justice League Unlimited scene of mine where Brainiac 5 tells Green Arrow that he’ll get their ship to their target on the Fatal 5’s ship. He uses his 12th level intellect to fly through a barrage of incoming energy beams to smash into the Fatal Five’s ship in order to board it. That and “ramming speed!” is a homage to both Worf in _Star Trek: First Contact_ as well as D-Day in the movie _Animal House_.

**Catastrophe** : Harry did warn Arturis how far he’d go when pushed to protect people under his care. Too bad Kurros thought he could think away past that! Also, Harry’s use of fiendfyre is very much influenced by Harry’s use of it in **Darth Marr’s** fic, “ _Revenge of the Wizard_ ” where a similar fate happens when you allow such magicks to rampage unchecked. OF course, many fics have shown the dangers of such as well as HP canon and the movie.

**Hugin & Munin**: What better name for a pair of long-range scout ships then the ravens of Odin who roam the Nine Worlds and report back to him?


	15. Scythe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Necessity has no law_.” **Oliver Cromwell** – English general, statesman and only Lord Protector of Britain – 1599 – 1658

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 09-09-2020

 _Mission Log, Star Date 518905.5. The Earhart has arrived in the Ciderron system and have managed to successfully insert the Beta Team to the surface Ciderron III or Kasdeya as it is known to the Devore. Good thing too given how packed the ship was for this mission. With Harry’s team planet-side, we’ve more room to breathe now. We are on approach to the Kasdeya Battle Station and having to come in slower than expected. Not only is the station one of the nastier starbases I’ve ever had to sneak onto, it also the staging base for the 5_ _th_ _Imperium Fleet. Surprising all of us, most of the ships are still in orbit or docked. Damir thinks they are holding back for numerous reasons. The first being we’re beginning to hear of incursions into Devorian space by empires bordering them. Devorian newscasts are being coy as to why but I think the other empires think the Devore are going to be distracted going after us and so are doing some aggressive recon. This means the Devore here need to keep the fleet ready to deploy if needed. However, Damir thinks that the local Admiral also wants to use his fleet to utterly crush our fleet. Given most would reasonably expect the fleet to be broken up in searching for Voyager, the visuals would then suggest that the actual 5_ _th_ _Fleet is bigger than it is. At first, I thought this was silly but given the rabid xenophobia of the Devore, getting info out of their space is difficult so this sort of psy-ops might actually work. Whatever the reason, the extra ships has caused us to be more cautious before we infiltrate the station._

**UMATILLA RE-EDUCATION CAMP, ISLAND OF KESH, KASDEYA, SECTOR 42, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 518906.1**

Harry lowered his binoculars and sighed. He wished he could use the much higher tech versions that allowed all sorts of range finding, sensor readings and the like. However, the Devorians were being true to form and the area was littered with sensor traps, flying drone guards and some form of emitter which was sending out random pulses of energy which messed with any readings taken from their tricorders. So, they were stuck using the old Mark I eyeball to plan their next move.

“As you can see, it will be as difficult as I warned you it would be,” Ryn said from her position laying next to him on the slight ridge overlooking the facility. She was their Brenari contact for this mission. It had become apparent to Commodore Janeway hat they’d need help escaping Devorian space so they had contacted the Brenari team they had brought into the Imperium. After reviewing their options, the Fleet Council and the Brenari had come up with the current mission, even if the mission goals were fluid.

Harry took another long look at the facility as his team kept watch from their concealed locations along the ridgeline. In return for their help, the Brenari had wanted to get as much intel on the Umatilla Re-Education Camp as possible. It was the largest of such camps in Devorian space and the Brenari were concerned it could easily be converted from a place to supposedly help non-Devorians of the Imperium be able to more fully integrate into their society to that of a death camp.

Harry frowned at what he saw through his binoculars. Sadly, due to all his time in the Eugenic War, Harry was all too familiar in seeing refugee or detention camps becoming a place to quietly get rid of undesirables. So far, all the signs were there. He’d seen prisons with less security than this supposed re-education facility. Worse, while there was plenty to keep the people at the facility in, most of the security was to keep people out. The Imperium obviously didn’t want anyone, their own people included, to know what was going or was planned to go on at the facility.

Harry started tapping a device on his wrist. Normally they just use their comm-badges but given the situation, they were using the watch-like device which used a very low band signal to transmit pulses to all the linked units. Essentially Harry was using a form of Morse Code where instead of dots and dashes, long or shot vibrations were felt by the other members of their team. In short order, his team along with Ryn had assembled back to their base, leaving a smaller and much stealthier version of GO-4 to keep watch. Of course, calling the equally stealthy tent a base was a bit of a stretch. It was a larger version Harry had used during the Eugenic Wars when he mostly had to only house himself.

Harry waited as his team sat around the table before beginning, “Okay, we’ve seen the target and Ryn was absolutely right that it’s locked up tight. Thoughts?”

Cassi, a former drone who now worked in the Equinox’s med-bay spoke up first. As always, she spoke in the slow, precise way that most of the other Romulans in the fleet spoke with. “They can call it what they want, but it’s a prison. While the prisoners do not look like they aren’t being overtly mistreated, it is obvious they are not getting full rations. Judging on my earlier scan of Ryn here, I’d estimate most have already lost 5 to 10% of their normal bio-mass.”

The Tellerite (and also former drone) Zom nodded, “The work I observed was done using the bare minimum of equipment. If it were indeed team building exercises, they certainly would be using better equipment. What their doing is one step away from punishment detail.”

Warg snorted at this, “Team building! I saw the guards hit some of the workers with those swagger sticks for working too slow. So, unless this facility is using the Klingon Military Academy model for re-education, it’s all a sham.”

Alars nodded in agreement, “While Warg would know his people’s training better than I, this camp is far too dissimilar to what we have back in Cardassia for my liking.” While normally not part of the Earhart crew, Harry had wanted Alars to come given his previous experience as a member of the Cardassian Obsidian Order. While not an agent, Alars had supported intelligence ops throughout Cardassia space and into the Federation before being assimilated.

“How is it different and why does that bother you?” Ryn asked.

Alars fiddle with his pen for a bit before making it spin on the table they all were sitting around. “It worries me because of the work Warg was watching. We have plenty of labor camps in Cardassia. From what Commander Riker told me, these have only grown in number in the time since I was assimilated given he was in one for two years. The point, however, is while you might get worked to death in one of these, it wasn’t the purpose of the camps. Mostly it was just a place to put people and get some use out of them. They’d either stay there till released or sent to another facility to be exterminated away from view. Commander Riker was in route to such a facility when V’Lana rescued him. Now take this facility; it’s not a labor camp. In fact, it’s not much of anything. Oh sure, to anyone inspecting it, it looks like you’d expect. Classrooms, work areas and the like but none of those are at the level you’d expect if you wanted to achieve those goals.”

Harry sighed, “Right. The facility is just in a holding pattern.”

Alars nodded, “Exactly. These people are just being held with just enough of a veneer that they can convince themselves they aren’t just counting the days till they are executed. In fact, I’m worried that the work area Warg was watching will be where the mass graves will go.”

“So, do you think those bunkers off to the side we can’t get a good look at will be where they will be killed?” Shreen asked, a look of disgust on her blue Bolian face.

Harry nodded, “I certainly think so. Earth has a long history of such death camps. We had a particular nasty set of them during our Second World War. Also, I agree with Alars in regard to the camp being not one thing or another. During the Eugenics War, I saw plenty of labor camps where they might not care if they worked you to death but that wasn’t the goal of the camp. I also saw actual re-education camps and there would be a _**lot**_ more propaganda and the like. I remember this one camp had loudspeakers blaring out approved text that the people had to memorize. So yeah, this camp is just waiting for the word to transition to its actual mission.”

“One we may have inadvertently given the Devore,” Cassia said with a frown. “I agreed with Captain Tahl about it being a mistake to bring in the Brenari into Devorian space.” The Romulan turned to Ryn, “No offense to your people, but what we did could easily be considered an act of war. If the Federation had done something similar to the Romulan Empire, we certainly would have seen it that way.”

Ryn’s weathered face broke into a tired smile, “None taken. We knew it was a huge risk for your people but as you can see, time is running out for my people as well as those Devorians who speak out against their government. You are correct, though. With the Imperium’s enemies probing the border, the Devore Triumvirate might decide to liquidate enemies of the state rather than divert resources. That you brought actual, trained insurgents into the Imperium with the stated goal of training more…” Ryn trail off. It was obvious to the team that their previous mission to help the Brenari might now be used as the pretext to exterminate those they had been hoping to help.

Finally, Harry stood up, “Well it’s looking like this mission is mostly a bust. Without going completely and utterly over the top, which we don’t have the resources for, we’re left with just getting as much info we can. Hopefully, enemies of the Devore, their own internal opposition parties and the likes of the Terkellians and Krenim can use what we find to keep extermination orders from going through. With all the security, I’m going in alone. As nasty as the security here is, I’ve snuck into similar places before.”

“What are we going to do,” Alars asked.

Harry pointed a figure at one of the maps on the table. “You all are going to pack up and do recon of this city. After that Second World War on Earth, troops liberating the death camps went around to the surrounding towns and found a _**lot**_ of willful ignorance going on. Still, there were plenty of people who knew enough to know they didn’t want to find out more. However, they still were able to fill in a lot of blanks like how the camps were staffed and supplied. As you said, Alars, this camp doesn’t fit the model so what are they shipping in? Who is staffing it? Find out what you can while I do more direct digging.”

There were nods around the table. Except for Ryn, they all knew that Harry could get into and out of places without detection but he’d have to do it alone.

Harry looked at Ryn, “While I’d prefer to just get in and out without disturbing anything, I might be able to take one, maybe two people with me. If you have a list of people who really need to be recovered that you think are in this camp, I’m willing to look for them. It’s not much but the beauty is the camp commander isn’t about to let it get out that some VIP prisoners escaped under their watch so it shouldn’t make the situation worse.”

Ryn nodded and began to scroll through her handheld unit which held her files on the camp.

Harry looked at his wrist unit, “Okay people, we have about 3 days till extraction. Let’s get our camp shifted and then I’ll jump back into the camp.”

Warg frowned, “Are you sure your illusion rings will work?” Harry had made up charmed rings for all his team which made them appear to be Devore.

“Prax and his teams never spotted anyone wearing them. They won’t stand up to those dedicated sensors they were sticking into every hidey-hole in the fleet but for carousing a town for gossip?

You should be fine.”

“Warg just doesn’t like the fact he might have to portkey away from a fight if we’re detected,” Alars smirked.

“Give me a straight up fight to all this sneaking around,” Warg said with a grin. It was becoming a standard joke about Warg was going to be the one to get them detected due to the touchiness Klingons were known for. However, B’Elanna had told him when Harry asked her about it that while Klingons barked a lot, their military discipline was such that Warg would chew his own leg off rather than botch a mission over his honor.

“Don’t worry Warg. We’ve got a long road back to the Alpha Quadrant. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to kill our way through some enemies. Right now, I’m totally okay with sneaking out and forgetting we ever met the Devore,” Harry said.

Many of his team would remember this statement later and realize how true Harry’s words would turn out to be.

**XxXxX**

**AUXILIARY** **COMMUNICATIONS STATION, DECK 6, KASDEYA BATTLE STATION, IN ORBIT OVER CIDERRON III, SECTOR 42, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 518908.3**

Uriash gave out a long hiss of frustration as his tail twitched back and forth.

“Problems?” V’Lana said without looking up from the workstation she’d hacked into to monitor the base’s security grid. The rest of Alpha Team except for Tamal, were likewise engaged in their various tasks of espionage.

“This encryption is dense. It’s taking more time than I like. I didn’t want to do this but it seems time is against us,” Uriash growled as he moved from where he had been working to the panel he’d first opened to begin his infiltration of the battle stations main data base.

The rest of the team all stopped what they were doing and watched as Uriash’s left arm morphed from mimicking his lost arm back into something closer to its original Borg form. From it, multiple Borg assimilation type tubules snaked out and integrated into the exposed communications equipment.

V’Lana continue to watch as the rest of the team went back to work. Uriash was the only former drone in her team for this mission. She figured it was disconcerting to the rest to be reminded at what Uriash had been for so long. It probably didn’t help that as a Gorn, he was physically the most unique of the team.

Still, his skills wouldn’t have been as useful to be on Beta Team which was mostly made up of former drones. Not that the teams were set in stone. Except for Damir, Tom and Yin on the Earhart, she’d change who went where and into as many teams as needed. Currently, her team was geared to data extraction as well as being nasty enough to fight their way off a hostile station if they were detected.

V’Lana’s comm badge vibrated. She touched it lightly while she glanced at the screen for any hint of trouble, “Go ahead, Tamal.” They’d already hidden their comm-badge frequency from the internal sensors.

The Capellan’s voice was hurried but didn’t sound too stressed, “There has been an accident in the bay. Looks to me like one of the repair crews accidentally punctured something filled with noxious gas. Things are hoping down here but everything looks like you’d expect from an incident like this. Still, I can’t tell if this will make extraction easier or harder from this location.”

V’Lana fiddled with her workstation. Beyond a hazmat team being dispatched, it didn’t look out of the ordinary, “Abort to the secondary site, Tamal. I’m reading a hazmat team in route. I’m betting they’re going to clear all but essential personnel so our primary is out. Contact me once you get there and have scanned the area.”

“Understood. Tamal out,” came the curt reply.

“The Devore are idiots,” came Jonna’s soft voice from the other side of the room. “They’re using eridon gas to help stabilize their sub-light engines. Works great but is seriously toxic and causes way too much degradation in the cooling system. Even the Ferengi stopped using them in cheap missiles because of their habit of exploding if you skimped on maintenance.”

While Jonna was an Angosian super-soldier, V’Lana knew her station in Voyager’s life-science division was earned and so she knew what she was talking about. Of course, V’Lana had used eridon gas in ways no navy would dream of using it. Such was the life of a rebel for hire; you used what the universe saw fit to give you.

Formax chuckled from where he was rewiring parts of the security camera system to show what they wanted it to show. “Skimping on maintenance is practically an unwritten Rule of Acquisition to most Ferengi that I’ve met over the years. Even Orion pirate clans thought eridon gas wasn’t worth the trouble no matter how easy it was to get.”

Jonna raised an eyebrow, “Speaking from a family perspective Pax?”

The Orion affected a hurt look, “You wound me! My family has been smugglers for generations. Any brute with a ship with a halfway decent weapons array can be a pirate. Smuggling takes style!”

V’Lana chuckled, “Agree with you there. How we looking Uriash?”

The Gorn responded in a flat voice that V’Lana interpreted to him using more of his remaining Borg technology than usual, “I’m in the processing of downloading the needed data. Three minutes to minimum data collection. Five minutes for full extraction.”

The team continued on in silence. This was broken after a bit with Tamal reporting in from the secondary extraction zone they had chosen when they had first snuck on board. As V’Lana had expected, the Devore were no different than races back in the Alpha Quadrant. If you had a way to avoid your ship being detected or had a good reason to be there, moving through space to gain entry through maintenance ports was surprisingly easy. It never failed to amaze her how even the most powerful sensors on a ship or base, you could just float up with some minimal stealth and get away with it. That and how so many maintenance ports had terrible security compared to something like a shuttle bay.

V’Lana smiled to herself. Even some of the times she’d tripped such lax security, she’d always been able to play it off as a work detail accidentally setting of the alarm. In almost all cases it turned out that this actually happened enough that the security detail felt it routine enough to be grouchy for being disturbed. For all their paranoia, it seemed the Devore weren’t immune from allowing holes in their security to smooth out certain routine activities like maintenance.

An angry hiss startled everyone in the room except for the two Devore techs who were still very much unconscious in a storage locker.

“That didn’t sound good,” V’Lana said in a calm voice. She’d long learned that no matter how bad an op might go, she had to remain calm no matter what. She’d been on too many missions under someone else who didn’t to know how fear was contagious.

Uriash retracted from the communications panel and reformed his arm back to mimicking his real arm. He turned towards V’Lana but didn’t say anything at first. V’Lana wished that Gorns didn’t lack so many features which made reading an expression easier.

“I have discovered some… _disturbing_ news related to the fight we had with the Devore,” the Gorn finally said.

V’Lana frowned. She knew from long experience of how a subordinate worded things they knew their boss wouldn’t want to hear. However, now was not the time for such things. “Well save it. If you got the info then we can activate the sabotage protocols. From what I’ve seen, we should be able to cripple the navigation systems of at least half of the ships or more in orbit. That corruption should slow them down enough for Voyager and the rest to finish repairs and get us out of here. So, pack up and let’s get going. We still need to extract Beta Team and we’re running behind schedule enough as it is.”

Her team quickly bent to the task of finishing up their mission. Even so, V’Lana was concerned that Uriash just stood there for a minute before finally beginning to activate the sabotage virus he had worked with Seven on before the mission. V’Lana had to wonder what was bad enough to worry the usually steadfast Gorn?

V’Lana shook her head as she bent to her own tasks. There would be plenty of time to dig into the data on the way back to Voyager.

**XxXxX**

**FLEET COUNCIL ROOM, USS VOYAGER, DERIBE SYSTEM, SECTOR 43, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 518913.7**

V’Lana completed her briefing and sat down. She was met with grim silence and shocked faces. Only Seven of Nine in the room of the captain and certain senior staff member remained unperturbed.

Finally, Janeway spoke, unknowingly mimicking Uriash’s thoughts, “This is…disturbing news.”

Next to her, Riker slapped the table, “Disturbing? You call mass murder disturbing? He destroyed an entire planet! He makes Kodos the Executioner look like a rank amateur!”

“You are assuming Captain Potter intended for Galaron III to be destroyed,” Tuvok said rather dispassionately from his seat on the other side of Janeway. “Nothing in V’Lana’s report gives any indication this was the intended outcome of his actions. For all his time tied to the Borg Collective, Harry Potter is a man out of time. He is essentially a 21st Century man trapped in the future. A future with technology which was the stuff of fiction in his time. Taking this into account with the unpredictability of his magic, I believe we cannot jump to conclusions.”

Chakotay’s eyes narrowed, “So you are okay with the deaths of almost four billion sentients, Tuvok? That’s cold even for a Vulcan.”

“I am certainly not ‘okay’ with the tragic deaths of so many. I am merely stating that it is predictable that emotions will cloud this issue and we should be cautious in our deliberations,” Tuvok explained.

“Oh, so _one death is a tragedy but a million_ , excuse me 3.7 billion, _are merely a statistic_?” Riker scoffed.

Janeway made a gesture towards Riker to cut him off from remarking further, “I understand how you feel Bill; I feel the same way. Harry Potter once lectured me on interfering and not thinking of the consequences and yet I didn’t doom an entire planet to extinction. He cannot have it both ways.”

“You are continuing to speak as if Captain Potter intended this tragedy. Perhaps we should ask him what he intended?” Commander Dhael said archly from beside Captain Tahl. Both Romulans obviously did not like how the conversation seemed to be going so far.

“So, we ask the wolf if he meant to have eaten the sheep?” Chakotay asked. “Not a conversation I would recommend. We might be next.”

Tahl snorted in disgust, “We’ve known Captain Potter could be a threat to the fleet this entire time. You yourself, Commander Riker, said as much to his face as did many of the rest of you. You can’t all just claim it was Arturis making you say those things. You had to have been thinking them even if you might not admit it, even to yourself. How has anything changed? Captain Potter has done nothing but work to help this fleet, we former drones especially, to get back home. I doubt this incident will change that.”

“I think causing the death of an entire planet, right down to cellular level is hardly nothing, Tahl. If anything, _**we**_ have been changed because of this knowledge. We certainly knew Potter was dangerous but not at this grand of a scale,” Janeway said in firm voice.

Counselor Ransom shook his head, “While I agree with Tahl in principle, it’s not that simple. Harry Potter is now, intentionally or through negligence, a mass murderer on an enormous scale. We can’t just let that slide. He’s made a mockery of the ideals of Starfleet and the Federation stand for. We, as the standard-bearers of those ideals can’t stand by idly and ignore what he has done.”

To the surprise of almost all at the table, Sakonna (a Vulcan!) gave out a bitter laugh, “I knew we’d get around to the rank hypocrisy of the Federation sooner rather than later. Do you think we Maquis rebelled out of a need for adventure? To put our lives and honor on the line because we had a minor disagreement with how the Federation was run? No! We rebelled because the Federation and its Starfleet continues to play by the rules only when it suits them. And yet here we are, two quadrants away and you all continue to spew out the same propaganda to cover up how you continue to do the same.”

Chakotay looked troubled, “Sakonna…”

The former Maquis cut him off with a hand gesture, “You can pretty it up all you want. As a Vulcan, I do not allow myself such delusions. Where were the Federation ideals when the Cardassians began to slaughter colonists throughout the disputed regions? ‘Oh, we cannot interfere with a foreign government’ they said! Against solitary planets or the like, suddenly the Federation has no trouble bending their precious Prime Directive when it suits them. The Devore are no different than the Cardassians and V’Lana’s report makes that clear. The Brenari are slowly being exterminated. If their Imperium bordered the Federation, would the Federation Council risk war to save them? We Maquis already know the answer to that question.”

“I fail to follow your logic, Sakonna,” Tuvok said in a calm, even tone.

Sakonna gave her fellow Vulcan a cool look, “I am sure you do no not. Because you are as much a product of the Federation as the rest. Like the Vulcan High Council, you refuse to step up and put a stop to the hypocrisy and are content to remain on Vulcan and debate logic and ignore moral issues that logic demands action of. But such action goes against the paradigm, does it not? Easier just to let the humans run things and ignore the ramifications of doing such.:

Sakonna gestured toward the part of the table filled with the most Federation personnel, “You are all _so_ proud how peaceful and benevolent the Federation is. Yet if you take an unbiased view of Federation history, the type not taught at Starfleet Academy, you see the hand holding the knife behind the back even as the other hand is used to give a hand-shake of peace. How even with the Klingons being an ally, current teaching still paints them as relentlessly aggressive and barely civilized. Yet prior to the Organians intervening, the Klingons were willing to go to war, not for glory or honor, but because the Federation continued to use its superior economy to entice worlds under the Empire’s umbrella out from under them! War by economic means is still war.”

“The Klingons are hardly angels, Sakonna,” Ransom pointed out.

“Of course, they are not. _**That**_ , however, is not the issue. No, it is the Federation who waged an economic cold war against the Klingon Empire. If the Organians had not intervened, I’m sure the Federation would have said the war was started due to Klingon aggression. Chakotay! Your own ancestors had this happen to them again and again. Be goaded into finally taking violent action which gives a pretext for being for oppressors to be seen as the aggrieved party and not the real instigator of it all. I would have thought you would remember that as you told me it was another reason to join the Maquis.”

Chakotay looked uncomfortable at this but before anyone could say anything, Sakonna turned back to Ransom, “Look how Starfleet venerates the likes of Kirk even as he is known to have broken the Prime Directive badly on numerous occasions throughout his long career. For these crimes, he was rewarded enough to make admiral! Time after time the ends justified the means as if the Prime Directive didn’t exist.”

She gestured first towards Janeway and then back to Ransom, “You might not see it but I reviewed both your logs while we were in port with the Terkellians. Under a reasonable interpretation of Starfleet regulations, you both have violated the Prime Directive numerous times. You might not believe so, but again, as Vulcan I am not hindered by wishful thinking. If we are going to condemn Harry Potter for actions taken in combat, actions that saved us all, then you had better be there with him as he is sentenced.”

Ransom scowled, “We’re not talking about my actions or the Commodore’s actions. Were we to return home tomorrow, I would fully be onboard with answering for decisions and actions and accept the praise or condemnation for the same. I’m sure the Commodore feels the same way. But who does Harry Potter answer to? He is a member of this fleet and thus we are just as culpable in his crimes. Therefore, it is our moral duty to deal with this, no matter how much we may not like it.”

V’Lana chuckled mirthlessly, “I think you are missing the point that we can condemn Harry all we want. Any punishment is going to be incumbent on him accepting it. The only way he’s going to hang for the crimes you believe he has done is if he puts his own head into the noose. Surprisingly, I think he’d go along with that. He is not a monster.”

“His actions tell a different story,” Janeway said with a tired sigh.

“I agree with Commander Dhael. This conversation is meaningless without knowing Harry Potter’s intentions at that time,” Seven stated. “I was there with him when it appears he used the same magical fire on the Bevvox Consortium. It effectively destroyed them even as it gave us time to escape. I believe had he used this same tactic to affect the same goal; to have enough time to escape. Had he destabilized the warp cores of the Devorian vessels as he did against the Hirogen, the resulting explosions would have killed him and could have caused critical damage to the fleet. While it did not come to pass, his method did give the crew of the Devore ships ample time to abandon ship. That Harry gave them this opportunity is hardly the actions of a monster.”

“So, because he may not have meant it and that we also benefited from it, we should just ignore it?” Riker said with a frown. He looked at Sakonna, “I was Maquis just like you. But I did what I did not because I was against the Federation. I fought because the Federation wouldn’t do the right thing. You say the Federation is hypocritical, but how is ignoring what Potter did any less a betrayal? Using Federation mistakes does not give Harry Potter a pass. You can’t point to flaws in the Federation and then take us to task when we do try to uphold its ideals. Right now, letting a mass murderer on a planetary scale get off with a nod and a wink is inconceivable. The dead deserve justice. I’d believe this even if I never had donned a Starfleet uniform and took the oath.”

“Can those dead be justice for others, Bill?” V’Lana asked. “Because you weren’t there with us. You didn’t see the so-called education camps for the death camps they are planned to be. Already thousands of Brenari are dead through willful neglect as well as discriminatory policies. We found plenty of documents showing the Devore are on the same path as your Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Netanyahu, Xi and Greene. Segregation first and extermination to follow. We agreed to help the Brenari because we felt what the Devore Imperium is doing is wrong. Seeing firsthand what the Devore planned to do to the Brenari, and by inference any such races as they expand their territory, makes me feel less inclined to see Galaron III as a disaster and more being payment for their actions against a people little able to defend themselves. If it causes internal strife that puts a more liberal government in power, than I’m all for it.”

Chakotay shook his head, “V’Lana, it’s not that simple! The enemies of the Devore are already scrambling to take advantage of this! You’re the one who brought us this information! Good or bad, our actions through Harry may very well instigated a war involving hundreds of words and over a trillion sentients. That can’t go unanswered.”

“Given the Devore’s expansionist policy as shown in the histories we copied from the Zahl and Terkellians, I feel the only difference is that the Devore aren’t the ones starting the war sometime in the future. The Terkellians certainly were worried enough to have already begun looking to the Krenim for support,” Tahl pointed out.

“Enough!” Janeway said. “We obviously are going to be at an impasse here. The why is disputed but the action itself is undeniable. A world is dead and one of our own did it. We already have been put under suspicion due to my actions involving Species 8472. Can we outrun the news of this disaster? How will the governments on the other side of Devore space react? I doubt they will believe our story of just passing through while we harbor a planet-killer.”

“We cannot shoulder the entire blame for this, Commodore. Kurros and the rest of the Bevvox Consortium set us up. If not for them and their facilitating the Brenari resistance contacting us, it is probable that we would have been able to traverse Devore space without incident,” Seven said with a bit of heat. “We know now that the Bevvox Consortium preyed upon the desperate and while I cannot prove it, Kurros’ actions in regard to our situation shows they were not above creating the need for their services in the first place. I believe that their reputation was not as sterling as Kurros led us to believe Therefore, while it might not be a perfect solution, their involvement set in motion events we had little control over may smooth over future worries about the fleet.”

V’Lana nodded, “I agree there. On the way back to the fleet, Uriash found digging through the records we took that the Devore were very critical of Kurros and his bunch. I think Seven is right because they certainly believed that much of the problems the Consortium solved were ones they had a hand in either creating or making them worse. Doesn’t excuse what Harry did, but it does show that we didn’t come in with the intent of wrecking the Imperium.”

“You’re still making excuses for an almost genocidal event,” Chakotay said with a scowl.

“Well then let us look at our role in this,” Dhael said as she leaned forward with a cold look. “This council voted to accept the Brenari agents and their mission. Regardless of the Bevvox Consortium’s machination, we _**accepted**_ the mission. Neither I nor Captain Tahl were for this and we voted against it. Do you remember why? Because we felt that regardless of the humanitarian good which could come out of it, we were essentially committing an act of war against the Devore Imperium by knowingly helping enemies of theirs into their space to actively work against them.”

Tahl turned to Riker and said with dry sarcasm, “I seem to recall you felt we were just being, what was it? ‘Paranoid Romulans’? It is _because_ my people are known to be paranoid as you say that I had no trouble guessing how the Devore would react if we were found out. My people would have retaliated in the exact same manner.”

Riker turned red but said nothing.

“So now we’re dealing with how this event happened. We know what Harry did was a tragedy and horrible in the extreme. However, we don’t know if it was intentional and I highly doubt it was,” Dhael went said as she made eye-contact with the others in the room. “The same can’t be said about us carrying insurgent agents into the Imperium even as we _**said**_ we merely wanted safe passage through their space. Hiding our own telepaths is one thing. What we did was another thing entirely.”

Dhael looked at Janeway, “You asked, Commodore, what other governments will think? I think they will rightfully not trust us at our word because in trying to do ‘ _the right and moral_ ’ thing, we once again flouted the very rules you are so worried about. As Sakonna said, if we are to condemn Harry Potter for his actions, we should be there with him to answer for ours.”

Silence descended on the room.

Finally, Tuvok spoke up, “As the Commodore said; we are at an impasse. I believe before we go further, we must broach this subject with Captain Potter. If he did indeed intend to cause such a large-scale calamity, we need to know and then act accordingly. If it was not his intention, he still needs to know of his role. We cannot condemn him without him knowing what he is supposedly guilty of. As Sakonna rightfully said, we cannot choose not to follow the rules we hold others too simply because it suits our situation, his great power notwithstanding.”

V’Lana stood up, “I’ll tell him. He and get along well. As I’m as much as an outsider as he is, I believe he will take it better from me. Besides, if there is anyone in the fleet who might be able to kill him before he could react, it’s me!”

Silence followed V’Lana out of the council chamber.

**OoOoO**

“3.7 _**billion**_? As in billion with a B?” Harry asked in shock.

“That and the crews of all the ships in the 10th Fleet, the Starbase itself and the various civilian ships which got caught up,” V’Lana confirmed as she leaned back in the padded chair of Harry’s room on the Phoenix. The ship had finally been repaired enough for Harry and his crew to return to it on the day before.

Harry was silent for a moment. Finally, he shook his head, “I can’t wrap my head around that number. I killed what would have been half the population on Earth when I was a kid. I’ve killed a lot of people in my day, most of them certainly deserved it. The Devore are a bunch of fascist wankers but destroying an entire planet? No, there can be no justification for that.”

“No there isn’t,” V’Lana agreed. “So, the question is, what did you mean to happen?”

Harry was obviously still processing as he stared at the info on the PADD V’Lana had given him without seeing it. “What did I mean to happen?” Harry said after a bit before looking away. “I’m not sure. Fiendfyre burns through most things. Certainly, nothing on a spaceship could withstand it. I set the fire away from the engines but I guess I thought that the fire would eventually take down enough systems that the crews would have to evacuate. I can’t believe they managed to get to that planet. I only made reference that they should try to get them to break contact as quickly as possible. I was worried that _Voyager_ wouldn’t be able to shield the _Marianne_ for much longer.”

V’Lana snorted, “Harry, it wasn’t even a light year away. Even at something like Warp 5 or so they could easily make it in a few hours. If they were in a race for their life, they’d go as fast as they could go without the ships coming apart. Sadly for you, spacers are loathed to abandon ship even when in easy reach of help.”

Harry scowled, “Well forgive this barbarian for continuing to hear the term light _**year**_ and thinking that it takes a long time to traverse that distance. I know I was hooked up to the Borg but it’s not like I’m Seven and her mental encyclopedia! The original _Phoenix_ would take around 26 months to go that far. People keep forgetting I didn’t grow up with this tech. No matter how much it looks otherwise, I’m mostly winging it unless I can prep myself first or be in my armor which can link me to the database. Even so, I dump a lot of things on Alars and Veer given they _did_ grow up with all of this. Because the more I tap into what I knew when I was hiding from the Borg the less I’m Harry Potter and more…and more like…One of One,” Harry gulped. “I may not have been assimilated but in a way, I had to almost do something almost as bad to myself to stay alive. That I wall that part of myself off as much as possible shouldn’t come as any big surprise.”

V’Lana raised her hands in a placating gesture, “I’m on your side, Harry. I’m just saying most aren’t going to think much of that excuse.”

Harry’s face went slack and then almost feral, “They can think what they like. What are they going to do about it?” his green eyes seemed to glow with menace.

V’Lana took a deep breath. As much as she’d been around a lot of nasty places filled with just as nasty people, it chilled her how Harry could go from an adorkable sort of guy to a full-on, runaway screaming in sheer terror sort of threat. “Well that’s the problem isn’t it? Many in the council would probably feel it justified to have you put to death or imprisoned for life for what you did, even unintentionally, to Galaron III. The problem is that only works if you allow it.”

Harry snorted, “Of course life in prison only works on people who die of old age. Not something I have to worry about. Of course, for 3.7 billion people and an entire planet to boot, I could see it.” Harry looked away and then sighed, “I did the crime, I guess I should do the time?”

V’Lana was silent, “I am unsure as are many in the council. I may not be onboard with Vulcan logic but I can say that an accident is an accident. The scale, in some degree, should not matter.”

“Yeah well one death is a tragedy but a million is a statistic,” Harry quipped.

V’Lana chuckled, “Bill Riker actually brought that up. Yes, killing someone in a speeder crash accidentally is a tragedy. It is difficult to liken that to killing 3.7 billion people just as accidentally as just a simple tragedy. However, as I said, there are many factors in play. You acted under pressure of the moment with little time to think on the possible outcomes. We all were manipulated by the Bevvox Consortium. Seven echoed your comment about them having time to abandon ship. She also rightfully pointed out that without their interference, we wouldn’t have been contacted by the Brenari and we would have likely made it through Devorian space without a hitch.”

“True…but then I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to turn that prat Prax into a corgi,” Harry said almost to himself.

“Then there is the issue that the Devorians are in the process of slowly wiping out the Brenari. You were there; you saw how their re-education camps are but one memorandum away from becoming death camps. One could argue that by accepting the Brenari agents and taking them into Devorian space, we essentially declared war on the Imperium. Dhael certainly stated this in council,” V’Lana explained.

“Killing an entire planet is hardly something you do in war,” Harry said sourly.

V’Lana sighed, “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? While destroying planets is considered a horrific thing to even contemplate, I can assure you, however, that there are quite a few dead planets back in the Alpha Quadrant due to war. Some of those can be found in Federation space. Given the shapeshifting powers of the Changelings of the Dominion, I wouldn’t put it past either the Empire or the Federation to use excessive force to ensure that any planet they take is truly devoid of Changeling life. I also saw firsthand how many of the Federation principles were cast aside because of the threat of those Changelings. So again, it is difficult just to say you are guilty of a crime that the Federation itself, like so many other governments, will do when the situation warrants it. At least you destroyed Galaron III unintentionally. The same can’t be said for the dead planets back home.”

“But what about me? I’ve got to live with it!” Harry all but shouted.

“Can you live it? You said yourself you’re functionally immortal. However, you’re not unkillable. I’m sure tossing you into a torpedo and shooting you into a star would certainly do the trick,” V’Lana asked.

Harry was silent for a long time. Finally, he sighed, “I think you’re Vulcan enough that maybe you won’t dismiss this out of hand as ego or trying to weasel out of the blood on my hands. Yes, you could kill me. Maybe power like mine should be running around loose. At least my people are in another dimension now.”

“I’m hearing a ‘but’ coming on,” V’Lana said with a slight smile to show she wasn’t being judgmental.

Harry was silent for another long moment, “V’Lana…what do you think of fate?”

The Earhart captain blinked at this, “Fate? What do you mean?”

“I mean for most people, at least back on Earth, we could talk about our fate. Whether we had one, was fate something we made or was there some script written out for us?”

V’Lana nodded, “A common concept throughout the galaxy. I don’t give much thought to it. I’m too busy living my life to worry whether or not I’m doing so on my own volition or not. I don’t feel any puppeteer strings so for me, I am master of my own destiny.”

“Good for you. But the problem is we Magicals know better. We believe that most people are in your position. You get to decide where your life goes. For some of us, however, some of us have much of their destiny written out for them.”

“How so?” V’Lana asked. She loved to learn more about the Magical world that had been hidden for so long and now was banished forever with only Harry left to tell the tales.

“A prophecy was made before I was born. Just in the region I was born in, we had enough prophecies to fill a hall you could park quite a few shuttles in. Some prophecies didn’t come to pass but most did. Often due to people trying to avoid the prophesy and then inadvertently making it come true. The prophecy regarding me might have fallen into that category given Voldemort heard part of it and acted on it. Still, I was fated to defeat him and my family and I would never have stood for his tyranny so while things played out because of him acting against me, well…I’d have fought him and his Death Eaters anyway.”

“When did you learn of this?” V’Lana asked gently.

“Right after I watch my godfather die due to my stupidity,” Harry said bitterly. “I was 15 and had three run-ins with Voldemort by that time if one counts the shade of his teenage self. Which I do since it meant I had to fight a 20-meter-long demon snake which could kill you if you met its eyes. So yeah, I wasn’t in a good head space. But my point is I had a _destiny_. One predicted before I was born and it came true. I know that there are forces out there pulling strings. What those forces are, I can’t say. What I can say is I know, deep down, they aren’t done with me.”

Harry was silent for another long moment. V’Lana watched him as he was obviously wrestling with how to put his thoughts into words. “So yes, I could climb into a torpedo and let that be that. I don’t know, though, if that would be allowed. I survived through sometimes the most ludicrous of happenstance. Things always seemed to break my way. Just when I thought I was screwed, something always happened. It was like having a fairy godmother hanging around, ensuring I survived. That literally happened in the Tri-Wizard Tournament where an evil wizard wanted to ensure I got through a maze so I could be kidnapped. Yet things like that happened all the time to me without any such overt help being evident. I really wasn’t kidding when I told the Commodore how being lucky was my superpower. Sometimes it seems to be the only explanation of how I’m still alive today.”

“So, you don’t want to literally tempt Fate?” V’Lana asked. Not the argument she was expecting, that was for sure.

“No. I know that sounds self-serving,” Harry said with a growl. “But there is also this. What would me going to my death solve? It’s not going to bring back those that have died. I should know. Like with fate, I can say due to direct experience how there is a lot more to death then just having the body die. I was tagged with the title of Master of Death. More like slave to Death as it seems all I do is fight and kill. I try to save people. To do the right thing but death is always around me. I killed my first person when I was eleven. Just like with Galaron III, I didn’t mean for it to happen. Sure, there were all sorts of extenuating circumstances to boot. But the fact remained Professor Quirrell died because of me. Now I’ve sent an entire planet into Death’s realm. But we’re all born to die, right? No matter how bad I might be at it, I’m not going to stop trying to help people. Stop trying to make things better. I can’t do that if I’m dead. My death won’t allow me to at least try to atone for the deaths I caused.”

Harry got up and began to pace, “Also, I made a promise that I’d help get everyone home. Can’t do that as a corpse. If the price of being able to do that is to lock myself away here on the _Phoenix_ , well that’s up to the fleet council and the rest of the crew to accept or not. As you said, I’m only going to go to my death if I accept it. So, either people accept I’m going to stay and help or they’re going to have to somehow learn to live with it.”

Harry stopped pacing and looked at V’Lana, “What do you think?”

V’Lana shrugged, “I think people are going to piss and moan about it for quite some time. However, Sakonna is right about one thing. Federation types are really good at conveniently ignoring things when it suits them. While I got a pass on many things due to my famous father, I also got away with a lot of things because I was useful to the Federation when they needed certain off the books sort of jobs done. Likewise, I’m sure there will be a lot of posturing, moralizing and even saber-rattling but somehow nothing will ever come of it. I’m sure you’ll do something amazing in our future and suddenly you’ll be the hero again instead of the mass-murdering pariah.”

Harry laughed bitterly, “Story of my fucking life. Hero one moment; bloody villain the next and then back to Hero by the end of the year. Some days it feels like I never left Hogwarts. Same stupid crap drama no matter where I go.”

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** : A few reviewers throughout this fic feel I’m being too hard on Janeway and the Federation in general. However, the episode _Counterpoint_ is another example of Janeway saying she’s upholding Starfleet and the Federation ideals but then turning around and violating those same rules. As mentioned in this chapter, hiding their own telepaths is one thing, but they agreed to help those the Devore felt were enemies. While this chapter makes those Brenari actual insurgents, the canon episode’s refugees would still be bad in the eyes of the Devore. Given the great lengths they went to inspect Voyager, “just refugees” isn’t going to be something they care about; enemies are enemies.

So, while the Voyager crew might have felt bad for these refugees, they accepted taking them under false pretenses into the Devorian Imperium, which could be seen as an act of war. So again, like with Species 8472, Janeway and crew are taking actions that would get them court-martialed for back home. This isn’t bashing them. It’s pointing out that they only follow the rules when it pleases them. Doing the “right thing” is often the wrong thing and that’s hard to bear but it’s been borne out a lot in history.

If anything, it once again shows the Star Trek writers have few (if any) military veterans in their ranks. Imagine if some Navy Captain got caught smuggling people out of say North Korea? Sure, a lot of people would be, “Good for them!” but to the Pentagon and the State Department would **NOT** be amused. Star Trek loves to show the cowboy captain doing the right thing and usually breaking the rules doing it. In real life, that sort of stuff causes major international incidents and starts wars. That and it gets people court-martialed and sent to Ft. Leavenworth.

( _At least in Star Wars, cowboy captain Poe Dameron got ripped a new one by Vice Admiral Holdo and General Leia for his actions. There is a chain of command for a reason._ )

 **The Elephant in the Room:** Before you think to write a scathing review, this issue isn’t done. I’m not going to have Harry whack an entire planet and hand-wave it in one chapter. Who do you think I am? A Star Trek writer?

 **Lax Security** : Anyone who has had to work around classified information or done IT knows how often people will actively subvert their own security to make their lives easier. Sort of like who people will write their password on a sticky note and leave it under their keyboard…because no one would ever think to look there, right?

 **Umatilla Re-Education Camp** : This is taken from an old joke I’ve used for a long time. I’m always joking how something I do or saw will get me shipped off to here. Umatilla is an actual town in Eastern Oregon which once housed a facility where they burned old chemical weapons to destroy them. Sadly, what was just a joke about the government repurposing the camp during the Bush years is not as much as a joke it once was.

 **Characters** : (sigh) I understand that OC’s can be off-putting. However, I have to say I do grow a bit weary that many reviewers have commented they aren’t invested in the characters enough to know who they are even after I’ve been using them for going on half the fic. Well I feel for you but I _**have**_ done two sets of author’s notes to help people remember who is who. You know, it wouldn’t kill some of you to actually refer back to previous chapters or (gasp) use the Google. I do it all the time in, especially in fics like _The Gods Among Us_ (as I’m not as familiar with the new BSG) and especially with _Visited by a Doctor_ since Dr. Who lore is vast. The difference between the level of Star Trek lore readers have shown so far is also pretty vast. For those who haven’t seen much more than Enterprise, Voyager and some of DS9 and TNG, well you’re going to miss a lot. Again, that’s what websites like Memory Alpha are for or fire up your streaming and check out the older titles. At least the remastered the TOS. So, beyond what I’ve already done, if anyone wants a Dramtis Personae, just PM me and I’ll send you a copy.

 **Scenes** : I’ve had some people complain that there isn’t a lot of description of what is going on and scenes can shift with little explanation. That is the peril of writing a fic based on books or shows. As the author, I have to balance telling the story but NOT retelling the story you all should already know. If you’ve never seen Voyager, well I can’t help you. Go watch the series and come back. For most us, we’re familiar enough with the series that I don’t want to bore you with telling a story you already know. It’s why I sometimes only reference an episode in the Captain’s log. Some episodes aren’t changed enough to feature. For example, even with all the changes, I don’t see how an episode like _The Omega Directive_ would have been different enough to write out. Please remember that for every one of you who says, “What is going on here?” there are others going, “Oh come on! I know this already!”

 **Serial Writing** : There are advantages and disadvantages of serial writing. Some things are good and bad like reader feedback. On one hand, I’ve gotten some great feedback, ideas, corrections or suggestions from fans. On the other hand, I get feedback which sometimes makes me want to give up writing, especially due to readers who seem to think they are owed a certain story. This chapter reminds me of a chapter I did for _Paging Dr. Bell_. I wrote a chapter which had a major event happen and the reviews went nuts. So much so that the very next day I sat down an wrote an entire 9,575-word chapter in response to the pros, cons and confusion from my readers and the story was better for it. Not that the last chapter garnished anything in the way that my Harry Potter chapter did.

Still, comments from reviewer made me think and in doing so, I realized I could tell a story which I laid the groundwork for and then haven’t done anything with yet. It also allows me remind people that in canon, Harry Potter kept things close to himself. He rarely opened up and talked to anyone about his feelings. By author design or not, this is what one would expect from a kid growing up abused like he was. Again, by design or not, Dumbledore created a situation where Harry would grow up to feel his life was not as important as those of his friends and dying a martyr’s death would be similar to what his parents did. The insidious bit of this is he grew up being told how much a burden he was; how much of a freak that wouldn’t be missed. You can’t grow up with that and expect his insane Hogwarts years to (ahem) magically wipe that away. Harry had a lot of reasons, good and terrible, to go to his death in Book 7. So that Harry sometimes acts erratically or hypocritically shouldn’t be a surprise. I alluded to how Harry sort of grew up to be his Uncle because that was what he saw growing up. Likewise, a lot of fics show a Harry later in life realizing he often cuts people off, keeping secrets and acting without consulting others. In short, he acts like his mentor Dumbledore.


	16. Gravity - Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small change from canon: the aliens on the planet and the ones which contact Voyager are different species in my story.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _Sometimes being lost is the best way to find yourself_.” (Ether: Into the Nemesis) – **L. J. Vanier** – American author ? – Present

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 09-15-2020

_Captain’s Blog, Star Date 518960.3. Well my life continues to be a shitshow. As V’Lana predicted, most of the fleet treats me like a leper. However, I’ll take it as a win that no one is wearing a “Potter Stinks” button. Even so, I’ve spent almost all of my time on the Phoenix since even some of V’Lana’s people were shaken by what I accidentally did. Luckily for me Cardassians are rather pragmatic and stoic so Alars hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon of calling for my head._

_In truth, I’m not surprised people were horrified, given the footage Uriash downloaded from the Devorian Starbase. It’s chilling and that’s coming from someone who previously had an up-close-and-personal encounter with Fiendfyre from the standpoint of a potential victim. What can you do or say in the face of the unthinkably awful?_

_I called up Dumbledore with the Resurrection Stone because his portrait wouldn’t answer my questions on the unthinkably awful. Because what else can you call his plan that led me from being taken from Sirius Black the night my parents were murdered to the Privet Drive? How would my life have been different if, burdened with his godson, Sirius had not gone after Peter and subsequently not been thrown into Azkaban without a trial? Both our lives would have been better but that wouldn’t have gotten me to the point where I was willing to die in the Forbidden Forest at the hands of Voldemort now would it? So many terrible things he did, many of which I have heard rumor of but, for my own sanity, have never tried to confirm. His response from beyond the grave? ‘I did what I felt was right’ was his answer. That was it. Everything he did, good or bad, was all to get me to the right place, in the right frame of mine to go to my death so Voldemort could be killed for good. All his apologies and talk of regret falls a bit flat for me given me blatantly was lying to me my entire life. In the end, for the greater good, I was a means to an end._

_So, I’m left to wonder if this isn’t one of those things in life that are fundamentally unfair. Dumbledore told me to make a choice between what is right and what is easy. I did what I thought was right even though the easy path would have been to just slaughter those Devore out of hand. Would it give any comfort to the dead that I was trying to give them a chance? That I refused to just kill those who were inconvenient simply because I could?_

_I seem to be sleeping more of late and I find myself, in dreams, wondering if being the hero or villain just depends on who is telling the story? How many more sentients are going to die because of my need to save people? What is the easy path here? What is the right path?_

_And is there a right path?_

**XxXxX**

**SHUTTLE BAY, THE EQUINOX, SECTOR 43, DELTA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 518961.2**

“I really hope Tridiva won’t hold this mission against me,” Maria Gilmore said as she packed more equipment into her tool bag.

“Why would she?” Ensign Samantha Wildman asked as she continued to likewise pack her own bag with various life-science sensors.

“Well back when we were on the Pit Stop, she had lamented how she hadn’t been on any away missions for a long time. Since then, she’s been on two but I’m a civilian now so I feel like I’m taking someone’s slot,” Maria explained. Around the two, the others of the mission bustled about, loading the Delta Flyer for its upcoming flight.

“Well it might be that you’re linked with Tom and he called some favors in. That and you’re still an engineer and I was already assigned to the mission in the slot Lieutenant Mohindra would be put into. Besides, because you’re a civilian now means we get an engineer without any of the duty cycles being interrupted,” Samantha said as she finished packing and zipped up her bag as Harry came around the corner of the flyer.

“Are your bags ready, ladies?” Harry asked.

Maria zipped up her bag as well and brought it over to Samantha’s. “We are now.”

Harry nodded and, with a wave of his hand, shrunk the bags. He then took out what looked like luggage tags and stuck them to the bags that had gone from duffel bag size down to something you could fit in a purse. He then tapped both tags with his finger, causing them to glow for a moment.

Harry looked up, “These tags are something I learned back when I was working with a lot of non-Magicals. A lot of magic isn’t much use without the mage to activate it. So if for any reason I’m not around, you just have to hold those tags for a minute while thinking about the original size. Just be sure to you leave enough room for it to grow back to its proper size.”

Both Maria and Samantha nodded as Tom, Treana and Tuvok all came over with various bags and boxes to be shrunk. Treana was practically bouncing on her feet as Harry shrunk the rest, “I’m so happy you being able to shrink certain things means I can bring the really sensitive instruments which normally wouldn’t fit along,” she said happily.

“It does give us more mission capabilities as does using the Flyer,” Tuvok said in that ‘state the obvious’ way he had.

Tom laughed, “I’m betting you wished we’d jumped on the Delta Flyer concept earlier.”

Tuvok merely shook his head slightly, “In theory yes, however with the technology both Harry, Seven and many of the former drones brought to the design process means a previous version would have simply been a jumped-up shuttle not the improved runabout it ended up becoming.”

Tom shrugged, “It’s too bad we weren’t able to snag any of the Devore ships on our way out of their space. With the Delta Flyer design, it would be nice if we had a designated carrier for the Earhart and Neelix’s Baxial to say nothing of the Marauders. Then we could have room to replace our shuttles with more Flyers.”

“I think just getting out of Devore space alive with no casualties was enough of a win,” Harry said dryly.

Almost instantly, a stillness settled over the others. Harry cursed himself mentally for bringing up what was still very much the elephant in the room. Obviously there hadn’t been any deaths (surprisingly given the damage to the Marianne) in their fleet but the loss of so many Devore at Galaron III was still a raw subject.

Predictably it was Tuvok that broke the silence, “We must continue with the loading in order to meet our launch window. With the fleet breaking up on the various supply missions, it is important we do not delay.”

The team split up until only Harry and Tuvok stood by the Flyer. “I’m surprised you accepted me coming on this mission, Tuvok,” Harry finally said.

“As a Vulcan, it is not logical for me to make judgements based on emotion. I can logically condemn your actions as well as understand the reasons you made the choices you did. Until such time as the Fleet Council calls for a vote to expel you from our fleet, it would be illogical not to use your talents. Additionally, those speaking in your defense put forth valid reasons why we should not jump to a decision.”

Harry harrumphed at that, “That and the fact that you folks might not be able to get rid of me if I wasn’t inclined to go.”

“That is a fact which V’Lana often made. It is regrettable that humans continue to invest time and emotional currency into trying to put balm on their conscience. While there are significant moral issues in play, the fact that we have few options clearly shows that such actions are counter-productive,” Tuvok said with the look of a man who trying to accept the choice between two bad options.

“So, no use crying over spilt milk, Tuvok? Well I’ve been wrestling with my own demons. I wish more people understood it hasn’t been easy one me. They can feel morally outraged all the want; they don’t have to live with the guilt,” Harry said darkly before signing. “Unfortunately, guilt and I are long, long-time dance partners. There is little any of the crew could do or say which is worse than what I’m already doing to myself.”

“Which is one of the main reasons I felt it was important for you to be on this mission,” Tuvok pointed out. “My work to master my emotions gives me an insight into just what those types of emotions must be doing to you. Staying in seclusion on the _Phoenix_ is not healthy even if it does help keep tension among the crew to a minimum.”

Harry smiled slightly, “I guess you’re bloody well fucked when the Vulcans are the one looking after your emotional health.”

Tuvok merely raised an eyebrow before gesturing towards the open hatch, “Be that as it may, we have a mission to finish.”

**XxXxX**

**CRASH SITE, UNKNOWN PLANET, SECTOR 43, DELTA QUADRANT – DAY ONE**

Harry looked out of the cracked main window and muttered, “And another fun-filled adventure in the bloody, balls-up life of Harry Potter begins.”

He sat down in the now empty pilot’s chair to take stock. He had already moved all the unconscious crew to back of the Flyer and found they were mostly fine and just suffering from the effects of a dampening field the Federation used as a sort of ‘energy airbag’ during crashes.

As Harry began to survey the damage, it was looking like a mixed bag of good and bad…mostly bad. Still, the Flyer had power and most of the structural integrity was intact. Beyond that, most system were offline due to the shock damage and from the crack cockpit window, Harry suspected that the Flyer would be lucky to fly in the atmosphere.

While the Flyer was mostly bad news, a tricorder reading showed the bulk of the good news. It looked like they’d crashed in some rocky desert, but it was a rocky desert on a very Earth like planet. The gravity was only 2% lower than Earth’s and the atmosphere was similar. A little higher in oxygen but nothing that would cause them to have to wear breathing apparatus.

It was hot though. 40 degrees but Harry couldn’t tell if it was mid-morning or mid-afternoon by the position of the system’s sun. He hoped it was afternoon given it would get even more scorching if it was still morning. Tuvok might like it that hot but Harry found that for all his complaints about the cold, drafty Hogwarts, he did better in cold, wet climates.

Then there were the various life-signs Harry was reading. There was a weird interference to his scans but at least he could tell that there was one Zahl and 13 aliens of a type which wasn’t in the database. There were also a smattering of animal life-signs but it was hardly the picture of bio-diversity. Still, at least for now they were stable and the ship wasn’t in danger of blowing up from an engine breach.

He flipped a switch and then typed in a command code. “Zim? Are you online?” Harry asked.

There was a pause before a crackly voice came from the overhead speaker, “Please state the nature of the medical emergency.” Another pause and Zim sighed, “I really wish there were a way to remove that irritating bit of coding. I am online although until repairs are made, I can only function at 85 percent capacity.”

“Crew status?” Harry asked as he continued to review the ship’s assessment of the damage. Like Zim, it appeared the Flyer’s computer wasn’t running at full speed either.

“Scans show that Commander Tuvok should wake in under five minutes. Treana will be next within ten minutes. Ms. Gilmore, Ensign Wildman and Lieutenant Paris will not wake for anywhere from half an hour to one and a half hours. However, a basic stimulant shot will wake them without any risks. It appears that the dampening field kept injuries to minor bruising although I’m expecting everyone will have a sore neck.”

Harry rubbed the back of his own neck, “I hear you. Okay, well if you can, fire up GO-4 and take stock on the Flyer. With you and the Flyer’s computer running wonky, I’d rather not trust the readings. As soon as Treana wakes up, I think Tuvok and I should do a little recon.”

“Understood,” Zim replied.

**OoOoO**

“You’re not even bloody well sweating!” Harry said as he came up to the top of the hill they had summited to get a better view of their surroundings. He was panting which bothered him given Harry couldn’t remember the last time he had got winded just doing basic physical activities which didn’t involve intense combat.

Tuvok didn’t reply at first as he took in the rocky desert all around them, he’s tricorder in hand and beeping quietly. “Vulcan is a harsh planet. Even so, it is good you are with us as we will need to adapt our clothing to deal with this environment. Even we Vulcans wear clothing similar to desert dwelling sentients across the galaxy do. I am assuming your transfiguration skills can do this easily?”

Harry nodded before pulling out his tricorder and doing his own battery of scans before finally muttering, “Not good. I was hoping for an oasis or maybe a river but nothing of that in range of my tricoder. I hope Treana can figure out what this weird interference is and compensate for it.”

“Our current rations and stores of other consumables should be enough to enable us to comfortably survive till one of the fleet rescues us,” Tuvok said. “Given our last known position before whatever caused us to crash, it is likely to be the _Equinox_.”

Harry frowned as he stowed his tricorder back on his belt, “Yeah but that’s the rub, isn’t it? I checked the sensor logs and found there was some anomaly and you’d barely started a scan and bang; I’m thrown around the back of the Flyer till the dampener field came on for the crash. There wasn’t a hint of a planet or a system for that matter on any of the scans we’d done or even on the astrometrics chart Treana used to plan this mission. So, we might want to be careful thinking of a quick rescue.”

Tuvok nodded, “A very logical precaution.” Tuvok looked down at his tricorder readings, “Even more so due to the number or wrecks in the general facility. Still, as worrying as the presence of so many crashes, it does give us potential resources to use if it takes longer than expected to be rescued.”

Harry squinted at some movement to his left and far down the slope, “Speaking of being rescued, I think that Zahl down there is going to need some help as those chasing her don’t seem like they want to have a friendly chat over tea.”

**10km FROM CRASH SITE – DAY 10**

“Ĉi tie! Mi trovis ilin!” Noss called out causing Tom to sigh. There were so many things one grew used to in the Federation and aboard their ships. The biggest (and in retrospect the most amazing) was access to the universal translator. The only time they could talk with Noss unimpeded was in the main hold of the Flyer. With all the damage, it was the only place the universal translator worked enough to be useful. Since that first day when Tuvok and Harry had saved the female Zahl, they’d all been slowly learning each other’s language. That included Treana as Tom had been shocked to find she only spoke her native Orion dialect as she’d never learned Federation Standard. It was another reminder that many of the former drones where assimilated long ago before a lot of things common in the 24th Century were standardized and made almost universal.

“Mi iras!” Tom called out as he carefully threaded his way through the craggy terrain. Not only would those damn sand spiders sting you if you weren’t careful, the various snakes weren’t any better.

Noss smiled indulgently as he came up. “Ne ‘mi iras’!” She pointed to herself and then away. “Mi venas’ ĝusta,” Noss said as she pointed to where Tom had been and then back at herself.

“Right…mi venas,” Tom muttered. He certainly had a bigger appreciation for his ancestor who had to go through this language barrier every time they went someplace new. Today was a day where they would only use Noss’ language.

He pulled out his tricorder as Noss pointed again; this time towards a large rock which appeared to have a lot tunnels going underneath it. The tricoder confirmed what Noss obviously suspected; it was a nest of a bird-like species which nested near underground water sources. With their more sensitive tricorders, Tom and the others were working to triangulate if there was a large, underground water source. Tuvok predicted there had to be one due to the amount of life in the area given how desolate it was.

Tom gave Noss a thumbs up which she returned with a gesture Tom remembered as the Zahl equivalent. Before he could say anything more, a beep sounded from a device on Noss’ belt. Both went for their weapons; knife in the case of Noss and a modified phaser for Tom. Due to the interference which saturated the area (which Treana and Samantha were still having trouble figuring out what it was) they had had to modify their phasers with a clunky, add-on device. It limited them to a weak stun setting but it was better than a knife in Tom’s opinion.

Even with the protective visor, Tom squinted as he looked around before he pointed and quietly hissed out, “There! Skurks!”

He and Noss both crouched down against the rocks in a way which gave them cover but still allowed them to keep visual contact on the small group of Skurk on the far ridgeline. Luckily for them, Harry had not only transfigured their clothing to better suit the environment, but also had replicated something he called a digital camo pattern. The various shades of beige, brown and orange made it easy for them to blend into the rocks especially with their hoods pulled up.

The aliens were called the Skurk, both the plural and singular name of the species. Not that Tom cared about such things enough not to use ‘Skurks’ instead. Noss knew little about them other than they had arrived a few months after her own crash and there used to be more of them but that quickly dwindled to what seemed to be the same thirteen she’d spared with for over a year. Tom respected how much this showed what a real bad-ass Noss was. He would give her good odds of being able to take B’Elanna in a fight, especially if knives were involved. An irreverent thought popped into Tom’s head. It was the 24th Century and yet so many of the people he knew (B’Elanna, Harry, V’Lana and now Noss) all were proficient in knife fighting. He wondered if perhaps Starfleet was wrong not to have more classes for dealing with such weapons if you didn’t have a phaser handy.

Tom touched his comm-badge and hoped it would connect. After the second tap it finally beeped, “Paris here. We’ve got a party of seven Skurks on Ridge 14 near Butte 5 heading west. Not sure if they’ve spotted us.” Tom was thankful had managed to get a semi-decent image of the area from Harry levitating GO-4 into the air. That same energy field had caused the range to be minimal but at least they were able to get a decent enough map to start labeling landmarks. With the overall beige color scheme and hazy atmosphere, it was far too easy to get turned around.

“Understood, Lieutenant Paris. I will inform Commander Tuvok. He, Mr. Potter and Ms. Gilmore are close enough to support if needed.”

Noss hissed an alarm. Tom cursed as he saw one of the Skurks holding a device and pointing in their direction, “Change that ‘ _if needed_ ’ to ‘ _we’ve been_ ’ spotted, Zim!”

Tom turned to Noss and used a phrase he made sure learned early on, “Ni kuras? Ni batalas?” It was important to be able to get the question of whether to run or fight across.

Noss was looking around her before grimly saying, “Ni batalas ĉi tie.” She pointed to a group of rocks to their right. Tom could see it would keep the Skurks from coming at them at more than one or two at a time. That and it would take a lot of time to be able to flank them. Hopefully Tuvok’s group would be there by then. With resources scarce, Noss said most fights ended if victory didn’t come quick enough. It wasn’t worth the risk of losing what little you already had.

Tom followed Noss to where they’d make a stand. Once in position, he checked his phaser and the knife at his side. He wished he’d taken a staff with him. Both Maria and Samantha used them to help them get around. Tom usually didn’t unless he needed to go up the two bad hills he had dubbed Misery and Thigh-Buster. Tuvok had Harry transfigure things so their knives could be mated up with the staffs to make a socket-bayonet type spear. Given the terrain, Noss could have used it while he shot at any Skurk who tried to close.

When the approaching Skurks got to within 20 meters, Noss shouted out, “Ĉu vi Skurk pretas morti hodiaŭ?” Tom wasn’t sure what the aliens yelled back in response but it didn’t sound happy, that was for sure.

Noss looked at Tom whose questioning expression must have been easy to read as she smiled nastily. “Today die ready Skurk?” She said in Standard as bad as Tom knew his Paroli (the Zahl language) was. Again, Tom marveled at how outnumbered as they were, Noss still was blatantly defiant.

With a roar, the Skurks began to attack. This began a long series of feints, charges followed by retreats. After ten minutes, this resulted in two Skurks stunned and dragged off while both Tom and Noss had moderate slash wounds. Luckily, the billowy desert clothing of Tuvok’s design did help against the slashing type attacks the Skurk favored.

Tom was helping Noss bind up a wound to her left forearm when he noticed that all seven of the Skurks were up and milling just out of range. He clucked his tongue in annoyance. Not only was his phaser incapable of firing faster than once every minute or so, it was so weak that the Skurks seemed to be able to slap their friends awake.

Noss saw this as well and she hissed out, “Ne bona! Good not! Kolero batalas.”

Tom worked faster. Kolero was a word Noss used about the Skurk a lot. It roughly translated as anger but Zim was of the opinion it was closer to rage. In this case, the Skurks looked to be working themselves up. Tom thought maybe berserker might even apply.

Sure enough, all seven Skurks let out a final howl and rushed towards them. Tom wondered if perhaps his phaser was seen as worth the risk of rushing them. Whatever the reason, the aliens didn’t look like they were going to retreat this time.

Tom had always been shocked at how time seemed fluid in a fight. He knew quite a few minutes had gone by given he’d been able to stun three of the Skurks. Yet he suddenly couldn’t recall how he got to be on his back, feverishly trying to keep the wickedly serrated dagger from being pushed into his throat by a very angry Skurk. He could hear Noss yelling something and screams of wounded Skurks.

Tom’s strength was fading and the knife-point was inches from his throat when there was a green flash and the Skurk suddenly went slack. This was followed by phaser fire and then silence. Even the wounded Skurks went quiet.

Tom rolled the Skurk off him. He belatedly realized that it wasn’t stunned; it was dead. Tom looked up to see Harry with his wand out looking at him, an obvious question on his face.

“I’m alright! I’m alright!” Tom said with a drunken wave as he struggled to his feet. The slash on his ribs was hurting like hell and he couldn’t wait to get back to the Flyer and break out the dermal regenerator.

He leaned against a rock as Tuvok and Maria came up. The latter gave him a bright smile, “Hey there lover. Glad to see I didn’t have to explain to Treana why you didn’t come back.”

“You and me both!” Tom said as he pulled back his hood and scratched out the sand which invariably ended up in his hair no matter how careful he was.

While Tuvok worked on Noss who had taken another knife wound during the fight, Harry went over to the stunned Skurks and healing the ones with serious injuries. To Tom’s eyes, the wizard looked tired. It was odd. Harry had always had this odd sort of stasis to him. Even when he yawned and went off to sleep back in the Fleet, he’d still looked like fatigue didn’t touch him. Now he seemed deflated. While Tom knew guilt could really do a number on a person, this seemed different.

Harry finished up what he was doing and turned to Tuvok. “Okay we need to end this today. We know Noss thinks there are a lot more Skurks back at their ship. So, I think we need to parley before this escalates any further.”

Tuvok moved so he could continue to work on Noss’ injuries but make eye contact with Harry as needed, “What do you suggest?”

Harry gestured to Noss, “So these Skurk chaps know a smattering of Paroli enough to know when their being insulted. However, that’s not enough to set up peace negotiations. We can’t be fighting among ourselves in this wretched place. I’d also rather not bring these folks back to use the translator on them because that’s going to be a lot of back and forth and that opens up risks I don’t like. I have a way I can talk to them in a way that I think will make them stand up and take us seriously. Serious enough to also show that they need to stop pissing us off.”

Tuvok nodded slightly at this even as Tom’s eyes widened at Harry’s words. With the memory of the disaster at Galaron III fresh in his mind, he hoped that the Skurks were smart enough not to keep pushing Harry.”

“Look, we need to stop this because the longer we’re stuck here…well I really don’t want to do what I did far too many times during the Eugenics War. They are castaways just like us. Trying to survive. So, I say we use that fact that we have six prisoners to at least force them to hold off long enough for me to talk to them.”

“Is this some magical spell that will allow you to talk with them?” Maria asked. It was obvious she was wondering why he hadn’t used it with Noss.

Harry smiled in a way that had nothing to do with mirth, “Sort of. Special case. You’ll see.”

Maria looked at Tuvok, “Well I for one think Harry’s right. The basic fact we can’t see stars at night and we literally had no inkling of this system before we crashed could mean it might take the fleet a long time to find us. It’s bad enough here without having to watch our backs.”

Tuvok finished with Noss’ bandage, “What is your plan, Mr. Potter?”

As much as Tuvok hadn’t seemed to take sides after the whole Devore debacle, it was telling that he had stopped calling Harry ‘Captain Potter’ in Tom’s eyes.

Harry didn’t seem to care as he made a dismissive gesture, “I magic up same travois or something and we haul them to their base. If they still have that air-powered bolt thrower Noss told us about, I can shield us. I’m betting between not being able to hurt us and having their people will at least give them pause enough to parley.”

Tuvok turned to Noss, “Paciĝi kun Skurk? Vi bone? Vi malbona?”

Tom watched as Noss mulled this over. Of course, Tuvok was learning Paroli like he hadn’t used it for a long time and only was just recalling what he used to know. If Tom hadn’t known how touchy Vulcans were about mind-melds, he would have asked why Tuvok had initiated one to help him learn the language even faster.

Noss finally nodded, ‘Mi bonas pri tio…I am good.”

Harry clapped his hands together, “Well then, let’s get this party started.”

**OoOoO**

Noss and Maria maneuvered around a rock and she once again marveled at the power that Harry possessed. Not only had he once again done the miraculous by creating stretchers out of rocks, he had done something to make them weigh almost nothing. They had two of the unconscious Skurks just as Tuvok and Tom did. Harry, however, had the last two plus the corpse of the dead Skurk on a pallet that floated behind him.

Noss shook her head slightly at this. So many amazing things she’d seen since the Federation ship had crashed. First being saved by Tuvok right when she felt that her luck had finally run out. Then to see the amazing technology the newcomers had available to them. Their Flyer was the first ship Noss had ever witnessed which remained in a condition anything other than a wreck. Even though it was doubtful the Flyer would ever fly again, the fact they had been able to slowly move it to the wreck of the star-liner Noss been on when she had crashed. While she knew her people weren’t in the same league as say the Krenim, they had managed to survive and thrive. This even with the ever-present danger in the form of the Borg. Still, the technology evident in the Flyer made her wonder what _Voyager_ might be like? Back home, friends and family had felt her reckless for going as far afield as she had yet crossing past Devore space was trivial compared to how far _Voyager_ had gone and how far they still had to go.

The last ten days had been intense. Noss had warned the new arrivals that she believed the Skurks might have people in stasis to keep their numbers manageable but the lure of the Flyer might cause them to wake up enough to chance swamping them. It hadn’t happened but Noss felt it was because of Harry who had been able to hide so much of what they did. She certainly appreciated her new desert garb. So much better than the scraps she’d had to throw together. It saddened her how so few had survived the crash and none of those had survived the rigors of the planet. The Skurks weren’t the only danger. She had personally helped wipe out two groups of hostile aliens. Out of those allies and former ship-mates, none remained alive or had left in hopes of finding a better place to live. She had yet to have any who left return. She wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign. All she knew was every ship that crashed always came out of the same place in the sky. If there was a chance for rescue, she felt it would come through that portal somehow. This was a common thought and was the reason so many had stayed. That the Delta Flyer had almost managed to survive as well as it had showed might be possible after all.

However, till that time, Noss was happy she had allies again, especially the enigmatic Tuvok. She had found herself becoming more and more captivated by the Vulcan even as it was difficult to get any sort of read on what he was thinking. Zim, the machine being, had explained to her about Vulcans and their dogma of logic and seeming lack of emotion. It was fascinating as it mirrored a similar doctrine that a minority of Zahl had adopted. While the Zahl method was more akin to stoicism, it was obvious that the Vulcans had successfully taken the idea to its (no pun intended) logical conclusion.”

It was interesting watching the interactions among them. Tom was connected to both Maria and Treana while the other three tended to be more solitary. In the case of Wildman, Noss could empathize given she was away from not only her child but her husband back in the Alpha Quadrant.

Harry Potter was the most isolated. Noss wasn’t sure if it was because of his magical powers or something else. A few times she’d be in range of their universal translator, a recent event in the Imperium had been mentioned and everyone would get quiet, especially if Harry was in the room. No one had volunteered the information and Noss didn’t want to anger her new allies by asking a potentially uncomfortable question.

As much as she hoped that Tuvok’s people would find them and rescue them, Noss felt that if they were as stranded like all the previous castaways, life would certainly be more interesting.

Her musing were interrupted as Tom called out something she couldn’t understand even if it was obvious they had been spotted as everyone else halted.

**OoOoO**

Harry made a motion for the rest to hang back as he eyed the five Skurk who were guarding their wrecked vessel. As Noss had noted, one was behind a cobbled-together dart thrower. He held up both hands, palms facing the Skurk. He called out, “Pacbabilado!” It meant peace talk, truce or parley in the pidgin which had been in place for as long as Noss had been stranded here. He continued to walk forward with the pallet trailing behind him about a meter off the ground. He hoped this would confuse the Skurk into letting him get close enough to do what he came to do.

It didn’t work as the Skurk manning the dart-thrower let fly. Still, Harry noted that three of the Skurk yelled at the one who had fired in a manner which seemed to imply they were willing to talk. The other, who appeared to be there leader if the gold band around their neck was anything to go by, just stood there. It seemed unfazed that the bolt had just deflected away from Harry when it got within a meter. Harry knew personal force shields weren’t something out of science fiction in the 24th Century so he hoped it meant the leader realized they couldn’t hurt him.

After a bit of a debate, the leader made a cutting off gesture before beckoning him forward. Harry got to about 2 meters before stopping. He gestured and the pallet moved to between them. He then woke up the two stunned Skurks. He waited as they drunkenly got up, were obviously confused before they went back to their comrades who began questioning them.

“Amikoj!” Harry called out and raised up 4 fingers on his left hand while gesturing towards where Tuvok and the others stood. “Amikoj bono!” Harry said and pointed towards the two he’d just woken up. While friends wasn’t the best fit, it was the only Paroli word he knew to use.

The leader seemed to catch his meaning that the other Skurk were okay if still stunned. He (or whatever gender [if any]) gestured for quiet and made a gesture Harry took to mean he wanted to know what Harry wanted.

Harry said, “Nomo!” and then thumped his chest a few times, “Harry.” He then knelt and pointed to the corpse. “Kia nomo?”

The Skurks began to mutter again amongst themselves but the leader didn’t move. Harry pointed to the corpse again and said louder, ‘Kia nomo?”

This still didn’t get a response even though Harry figured “what name” was basic enough for them to understand, especially given their reaction to his question. Finally, Harry thrust out a hand and stunned the Skurk next to the leader. “ _ **KIA NOMO?**_ ” Harry shouted as he kept his finger pointed directly at the leader.

Harry was about to start stunning again before one of the Skurks Harry had previously stunned called out. “Saartjie! Nomo Saartjie!”

Harry stood back up and made the peace gesture again. He then manifested the Resurrection Stone in his left palm and held it over the corpse’s chest. “Saartjie of the Skurk; I summon you!”

There were gasps from not only the Skurk but Harry’s shipmates as a translucent image of the deceased Skurk appeared floating near the body.

“Why have you pulled me from my ancestors, my slayer?” Saartjie asked in the typical breathy voice every shade he’d summoned used.

“I need you to talk to your comrades. We can understand each other because I summoned you. So, I need you to help me broker peace between our two groups. We can help each other or we can continue to fight. If that latter, it will not end well for your friends.”

Saartjie nodded, “You killed me with a wave of your hand. I will speak to my kin.” It then turned and spoke in a language Harry felt sounded vaguely like an Easter African language he’d heard at an Auror conference before he had learned their world was ending.

Saartjie turned back, “Speak. Gazali recognizes your power and will listen. However, I beg you to be merciful, slayer. The dead whisper your name in fear. Few Skurk remain due to the Borg. Please do not let some of the last of us be sent to our ancestors.”

Harry blinked at this, “The Borg assimilated your people?”

Saartjie nodded, “Long ago. Few of us remain for we have been unlucky in trying to find a new home. Each time we felt safe, a new disaster struck. There is little room for the weak in this area of space. Again, I beg for mercy.”

Harry shook his head, “There is no need to beg. I do not want to kill anyone. In fact, tell Gazali that we too have had issues with the Borg. One of our number here used to be a drone before I saved her. We come from far, far away from this part of the galaxy. We’re just trying to get home and so we have no issues with the Skurk or anyone in the Delta Quadrant. We just want to have peace till our fleet can find us. We are more than willing to help everyone survive till then. From what the Zahl Noss says, we have access to technology and power no one has ever had here. I’m offering them access to that in exchange for peace.”

Saartjie looked at him for a moment then shook its head. “I will tell them. I will tell them they should accept. But you are a fool if you think you will escape here. No one has ever escaped. We have tales going back decades and longer still. Ships crash and bring new refuges. Most die out. None have ever been rescued. This land will be your grave.” It turned and began to talk to the leader Gazali.

Harry thought on the dead Skurks words. There had been no hint of this system or whatever portal that led them here. At night, there were no stars in the night sky. All they could see was the two moons, the system’s star. The only three other lights in the sky were probably other planets in the system according to Treana.

The weird energy field made taking in-depth readings to be mostly worthless so far. Harry was worried that while the Federation’s technology seemed to above most of the Delta Quadrant races, it wasn’t that far ahead. The Devore Imperium certainly had technology which was similar and yet none of the many Devore who had crashed here had made it out from what Noss had said. This area was contested space by a few races, the Neyser being the biggest. That meant a lot of traffic going through it without having to worry about tariffs, inspections and the like. That no one had ever been rescued was chilling.

**ARRAKEEN – DAY 36**

Maria was careful to be not grumble too loudly as she worked to extract herself from the bed without waking up Tom or Treana. She made her way to the cooler unit and got out some water. For the most part, simple drinking water was something that wasn’t in short supply due to Harry. Now it was all they had to drink given even with rationing, their emergency supplies were never meant to last more than two weeks. At least so far the Delta Flyer’s power was stable and thus they squeaked out a sonic shower once a week. It was helpful that the ship Noss had been one when she crashed had been geared towards moving lots of passengers over long periods of time even if it had been mostly empty when it crashed. So, there were some creature comforts available if only very sparingly.

As an engineer, she knew they could jury-rig only so much given the Delta Flyer’s engines were design to move the ship, not be a power plant. Still, they had made progress in the week since Harry had magicked the Skurk’s ship to where Noss’ ship, the _Trell_ had crashed. Only Tom and Tuvok had understood the name Harry had dubbed their impromptu camp site. She kept forgetting to ask Tom about it, though.

She changed into the clothes that Harry had transfigured from their original uniforms. Even staying mostly in the wrecks wasn’t something which was comfortable in a standard Starfleet uniform or general clothes used throughout the Federation. She was rapidly beginning to hate the sand and grit. One got so used to the hyper-cleanliness aboard a starship that one always forgot how dirty a planet could be. She was living the life which made spacers sneeringly referred to being on a planet as being dirtside. She certainly was dirty enough, even with the occasional sonic shower, to merit being called a dirtsider even if that was normally slang for those who never left their planet of origin.

She went out into the main hall which had originally been a common room on the _Trell_. It was their main living and workspace now. The Skurks ship, named the _Vaartig_ which simply meant vessel in the Skurk language, didn’t have much in the way of room as it housed over 40 Skurks in cryostasis. Almost all the power the _Vaartig_ still was able to produce went into keeping those stasis pods running. The majority of the work of the camp had been working on fusing the two wreaks together along with a bay for the Delta Flyer. It was hoped it could be made to fly again which could be vital in finding more food and resources.

Maria went to check the main conduits which were power their camp before she headed off to get breakfast. Hopefully, they’d have better food options soon. Tuvok, Noss and Gazali had been working on a plan to do a systematic search of the surrounding area. It seemed that with all the dangers, most castaways had kept close to their ships or lived with allies. Even with resources being so scarce, the risks of searching for other down vessels was great. Noss had lost two crewmembers of the _Trell_ on such a mission. What was sad was it appeared that the sentient (Noss hadn’t been close enough to tell who they were) had been alone. They had chosen to panic and fight rather than see if they could work together. With their phasers and a group big enough to send out a larger search party as well as defend their camp was a good sign they could get more resources and maybe get other small groups to join them. Maria just hoped it meant a break from snake, spider, or bird stew. She was already sick of their limited diet.

Finishing her initial chore for the day, she went into the dining area which was the area they’d been able to keep free of the grit and sand which seemed to penetrate everywhere no matter how hard they cleaned. She found Samantha already there. Surprisingly, she was nibbling on a chunk of a ration bar. “I can’t believe you have any of those left!”

Samantha swallowed, “This is the last half of the last one. I’m not feeling all that great and so I decided I needed something that seemed like anything remotely normal. Sad how an emergency ration bar which you’d only eat if you were forced too is now a delicacy to be missed.”

Maria chuckled at this as she worked on gathering up her morning food ration. Samantha was doing calculations on her PADD so Maria ate in silence. By the time she was done, Samantha sighed, “Well I guess it’s time to get back too it.”

Maria nodded in agreement. Even with some of the tools from the various ships (now with power to some which had been previously unusable) and a dash of Harry’s magic, a lot of their daily work involved physical labor neither women had been exposed to before. It was worse for Samantha, Maria felt, given at least she got to go to bed with someone. Samantha was cut off from not only her husband, but her child as well. Maria only hoped that with the amount that Samantha did, she was falling asleep almost immediately at night and not lying awake and brooding.

That being something even Tuvok seemed to do on occasion. Each day that went by was stressful. How long would the fleet look for them before giving up? Maria was especially worried about this given their crew and its relation to the Commodore. Janeway was going to want Tuvok back as well as Samantha given she was Naomi’s mother. With Tom being an ex-con and one she had discipline harshly in the past, how invested was she in her former pilot? Treana was useful but had barely been in the fleet longer than Maria herself. Janeway wouldn’t be as emotionally attached to either one of them.

Then there was Harry.

A lot of fleet scuttlebutt had been about what to do with the wizard. Now the fleet might see losing the Flyer as regrettable but something that did fix their intractable problem of what to do with Harry Potter. Just that reason alone made Maria worry that the Commodore would pull the plug on the search earlier than she might otherwise do.

The door opened and Harry came in wearing the full outside gear. He even had his hood still up and only took off his visor and the facial scarf used to help keep windblown sand out of one’s mouth. He tiredly plopped down in a chair and tossed his PADD on the table, “Well today’s a wash. Sandstorm is about 30 minutes away and looks to be bad enough for everyone to have to stay inside.

Maria groaned even as she was happy she wouldn’t have to go outside. Noss and the various Skurk had made it quite clear that the sandstorms tended to be the biggest danger the planet threw at them. If you got caught in one, it was easy to get buried or even pass out from not being able to breathe the sand-soaked air. Maria had seen quite a few alien skeletons from previous castaways who hadn’t been able to find shelter and had their flesh shredded off them.

“I really need to see if we can rig a floater unit to get a better warning for these storms,” Maria said as she poured herself more water and sat back down.

Harry shook his head, “Right now I don’t think we have enough for something like that.”

Samantha snorted in such a way which made both Harry and Maria look at her, “What?” Maria asked.

“You’re such an engineer. You always go for the highest tech solution to a problem,” Samantha said with a sly grin.

Maria pursed her lips, “And you have a better solution?” It was rare for the life-science oriented ensign to ever gain-say her opinion on mechanical options.

“I do. Even with all of our high-tech toys, sometimes you still need to go low-tech if you don’t want to compromise your data. A lot of species are not going to act naturally if say you are using a floater camera to record their behavior. So, in this case, instead of some sensor using a powered lift, we can use a simple balloon. All we need to do is ensure the tethering cord is strong enough to deal with wind gusts and a reliable way for the sensor to tell us when it thinks the wind is going to get to strong and it should be hauled down. Even if Harry can’t magic up some helium, we can easily go with a hot air approach. Sure, it’ll be a pain having to bring it up and down to heat the air back up but it’s still better than having to rely on our short-ranged tricorders.”

Maria and Harry traded looks before Harry chuckled, “I should have thought of that. Too many wizards always jumped to the magical option and if there wasn’t one, they’d normally give up even if there were normal ways of doing it. I used to piss off a lot of my fellow aurors by using regular forensics to solve crimes. To often they’d just cast a few spells and if it came up negative, they’d call it good and stop looking. I knew better.” He turned to Samantha, “And yes, I can probably manage helium. Lucky for me, magic is mostly intent to I don’t need a degree in chemistry or something to create it. I just have to clearly imagine what I want.”

Before Maria could stop herself, she blurted out, “Is that why things went so bad on with the Devore?”

Samantha looked worried Harry might react badly to the question but the wizard simply sighed and leaned back in his chair. “In a way, I think it did. Fiendfyre is a tricky thing.”

“Fiendfyre…that doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Samantha muttered.

Harry gave a wan smile, “No, it’s just as nasty as it sounds. It’s pretty much literally summoned hellfire. There is a lot of debate on whether or not its semi-sentient or is just responding to subconscious thoughts of the caster.”

Harry paused and both Maria and Samantha kept very still. They both wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth what really had happened that day.

“So first off, as you can guess by the name, Fiendfyre is a dark spell. Unless you’re trying to destroy something that is magically resistant to pretty much anything you throw at it, using it means you’re probably an evil wanker. I’m surprised it was never grouped in with the Unforgivable Curses given how dangerous it is.”

“I think we all saw how dangerous it can be,” Maria said quietly.

Harry nodded, “Yes but even I was surprised at what happened. As I said, Fiendfyre is tricky. It doesn’t always act the way you’d expect. For example, during the final battle in the civil war I was involved in during my teen years, an enemy of mine cast it. Now first off, I was shocked this guy, who was no winner in the IQ department, was able to cast it in the first place especially since he was a student like I was at the time. Secondly, while it’s not unknown for it to happen in regard to Fiendfyre, normally if the caster of a spell dies then any spells they have active stop. This didn’t happen that day. Maybe it was because the Fiendfyre itself did the deed. You following?”

Both Maria and Samantha nodded.

Harry went on, “But that day had another weird thing happened. We were in a special room, a room magical even to wizards. It was called the Room of Requirements and before you went in, you’d imagine what you want and it would make it happen. Sort of like a magical holodeck. It didn’t really create things but it would draw things from inside the magical castle of Hogwarts where it was. One of the major aspects of this room was The Room of Lost things. Hogwarts itself has long been thought to be semi-sentient and if something were lost it would eventually end up there. Either by the house elves moving it there or the castle itself calling it there. When I first accidentally ended up there, it was this huge hall of stuff you’d expect to find getting lost or not needed in a school over a thousand years old.”

“So, a big lost-and-found slash storage room then?” Samantha asked.

Harry nodded, “Yup. The house elves used it as such. Those were little magical helper creatures that were bound to the castle. This room was filled with broken junk, stored items, lost items and stuff people had been desperate to hide. That was part of the magic of the room. My old headmaster found it once because he was desperately trying to get to a loo and went past where the room was and it manifested as a one. So, students trying to ditch contraband before a prefect or professor found them often found it. My enemy Voldemort stashed one of the items keeping him from dying in it probably because he’d been thinking so hard of a place to hide it. Which is why I was in there the day Vincent Crabbe cast Fiendfyre to try to kill me and my friends. Ironically he ended up destroying the very item I was there to destroy and he was tasked to protect.”

“The idea of a magical civil war having a fight in a school is rather terrifying to think about,” Maria remarked.

Harry laughed bitterly, “It was worst living through it, believe me. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is the Fiendfyre didn’t disappear when Crabbe died. However, even as it consumed everything in the room, we managed to contain it simply by shutting the door! So, the fire was able to destroy all these magical items and yet couldn’t go through the door? Maybe it was an aspect of the Room of Requirement’s magic but I often wondered about it over the years.”

“Shouldn’t that have meant those Devore ships would’ve been destroyed that much sooner? If the stone of the castle wouldn’t burn, does that mean metal wouldn’t either?” Samantha asked.

Harry shook his head, “Oh no, things that had been machined can fall victim to Fiendfyre, but here’s the thing. I purposefully directed the Fiendfyre to toy with the Devore, to frighten them more than destroy them. I can do that because I’ve got access to some unique magical items.”

“Your wand, your cloaking device and that dead summoning stone, right?” Samantha asked.

“Yes, the Deathly Hallows. The Elder Wand really amps up a wizard’s magic. It allows me to do things only the most powerful and learned wizards could hope to attempt. They are a part of me now and that gives me options most Magicals don’t have. So, my desire was for the Fiendfyre to be more of a tormentor than a destructor. I figured that would retard the inherent destructive nature of the Fiendfyre so that they’d be able to get far enough away to stop being a threat before enough of their ship’s systems failed and they had to abandon ship.”

“But they got to Galaron III faster before that happened,” Maria pointed out.

Harry sighed again, “Well as I told V’Lana, it’s hard to let go of your upbringing. To me, when I hear the term ‘light-year’ I still default into thinking that takes a long time to travel. The original _Phoenix_ , a DY-100 ship, was scheduled to take 26 years to get to the system we called Gliese 667 in the old nomenclature. Too bad we hit a micro-wormhole before we got there and ended up practically on top of a Borg Cube on the other side. My point is I don’t automatically think of space travel in a measurement of days or even hours. So that was strike number one against me.”

Samantha looked at Maria who nodded back. It made sense to her. She’d already noticed that Harry, for all his time hooked up to the Collective, was oddly backwards in terms of technology. She’d passed it off at first to being a wizard, but in light of what he’d just said it made sense that he could make such a mistake. His formative years had been when humans had barely landed on the moon as well as landing a few probes around the solar system. It was easy for her to forget that given humans, from Maria’s perspective, had had warp travel for more than two centuries.

Harry tapped his fingers idly on the table before going on, “Now when the Devore ships got to their base is when things get wonky again. Remember how I said that Fiendfyre is semi-sentient and is like hellfire? Well that’s the thing. Historically Fiendfyre is like a demons in the old myths. If you summon one, you have to be very careful how you give it commands because it will always interpret them to their own ends. Fiendfyre is aptly named. It is cursed fire and it wants to consume and destroy. Also, this was the first time Fiendfyre was physically so distant from its caster. Right there puts us into unfamiliar territory. They way I see it, the Fiendfyre jumping into the transporter stream sort of makes sense if you think of the fire as being alive enough to realize its prey is running away. I told it to torment them after all.”

Harry looked away for a moment before he went on in a more hushed tone, “What I could never imagine is that the Fiendfyre could sustain itself for as long as it did. There are of incidents of Fiendfyre getting stronger as it consumes things. It’s why even when I should be able to dispel Fiendfyre I cast that back in the Eugenics War, I always used special ward stones to keep the Fiendfyre contained. Once it had consumed everything, it would die out even if I didn’t dispel it first.”

“But Galaron III didn’t having such stones, “Maria said.

Harry nodded, “It also had eaten a lot of life. Given I doubt there was any magic there, the Fiendfyre had gorged on the thousands on the battle station and then started feeding on the ambient life on the planet. Samantha, you’d be the first to know how much bio-mass can be found in simple life forms on a planet.”

Samantha nodded, “It usually is the bulk of all life on a planet but is overlooked for actual flora and fauna you can interact with.”

“So basically, you’re saying that since the Fiendfyre was able to keep eating life, it didn’t have to die off?” Maria asked.

Harry nodded, “That’s my theory. Also, it reverted to its base nature to consume regardless of my initial intent. That planet is dead down to the microbial level because the Fiendfyre would eat any and all life before dying out. Unless someone seeds that planet with off-world life, Galaron III is going to have to evolve life all over again.”

“While I’m sure it’s cold comfort, but that’s something at least,” Samantha pointed out. “A lot of planets wiped clean in wars are left irradiated or worse. An unimaginable disaster but at least it is a reboot if you will.”

“That’s what I try to tell myself when I think of it,” Harry agreed. “Still doesn’t mean I didn’t accidentally destroy an entire planet’s bio-sphere. All those sentients dying in horror because I can tell you from personal experience that Fiendfyre assumes shapes of diabolical creatures. It’s not just a wall of fire you can’t outrun. No; you get the feeling of being chased and finally killed by monsters made of fire who are enjoying killing you.”

Harry hung his head and went quiet. Both Maria and Samantha weren’t sure what they could say in response to that. They were saved from saying anything when Treana came in with a haunted look on her face.

The look alone was enough for Maria to leap out of her chair and rush to Treana’s side, “Treana! What is it! Is Tom okay?” Maria was glad they were in a room covered by the universal translator. They had had to move their initial bedroom because it was a pain for her and Tom not to be able to talk with Treana otherwise. She was worried because Treana’s normal green Orion skin seemed to have a gray tint in her face.

Treana shook her head, “No, Tom is fine. I…I just read over the data I’ve had the computer working on. It finished during the night. I finally know why we can’t see any stars.”

“I’m sensing some cosmically bad news coming up,” Harry said in a flat tone.

Maria led Treana over to the table and quickly got her some water.

Treana drank and stared at the glass in her hand in a way that made Maria wonder if she was actually seeing it.

Finally, the Orion woman said, “The reason we can’t see any stars is this system is in a pocket of sub-space. It’s the reason we have that weird energy field. I think it is solar energy rebounding off the borders of the sub-space bubble. There are various points in this pocket which are thinner but it appears only one interfaces with normal space. That being the anomaly everyone falls though.”

“That explains why all the castaways end up here,” Samantha said. “That doesn’t sound to bad. Seven is pretty sharp. Shouldn’t she be able to pinpoint this anomaly with the Astrometrics sensors?”

Treana looked up with a sick, sad smile on her face, “I sure she will. That’s not the cosmically bad news. She will be able to find us alright. The trouble is _when_ she will find us. Time runs at a different rate in this pocket of sub-space. From what I can tell, it is on the order of every month here equates to only an hour back in normal space. So, to the fleet, it’s only been a little over an hour since we fell into the anomaly. We had checked in two hours before we went down. So that means it’ll be nine hours for before we’re expected to check in again. So to us, it’ll be nine _months_ before anyone has their first hint something is wrong unless one of the ships tries to contact us before that time.”

Maria felt her face go slack and she was betting her face was looking just as horrified as Samantha’s. “That means it could be years before either Voyager or the Equinox aborts their mission to look for us.”

Treana nodded grimly, “Yes. Figure we fail to check in. A day goes by before they decide to abort to come find out what happened. About another two days depending on which ship comes to look for us. Then it’s up in the air about how long before they figure out what happened. So best case, call it 3 days with four being more realistic. And that’s 3 days past us already being here for the next 9 months.”

“Six years,” Samantha said hollowly. “Six years for us to just get to the earliest we can expect them to just discover what happened. Who knows how long it might be before they can attempt to contact us or figure out how to rescue us?”

Harry sighed, “I’d say we need to plan on spending at least the next decade here.” He looked at Samantha, “Not a problem for Tuvok or me given I’m functionally immortal. For you? Naomi might wonder how her mother aged a decade in a few days even if she had her own growth spurt.”

Maria’s heart broke as Harry’s words resonated with the ensign. “My god! I won’t see my baby girl for years!”

“I feel like I need to apologize for all of this. My life is a long list of one disaster after another. You just got dragged into another,” Harry said as he finally pulled back his hood and ran a hand through his typically messy hair.

Even as the news they’d be trapped here for years was pinging around her head, Maria noticed something off. “Harry…you said you’re functionally immortal. What does that mean?”

Harry shrugged, “I can be killed. Wizards are tough and with my magical I’m even harder to kill. I don’t age though. If I hadn’t forced the issue, I’d still look like I did a few months before my eighteenth birthday.”

“If you don’t age, why is your hair turning grey then?” Maria asked.

Harry blinked at this before conjuring a mirror. On seeing the weathered face, with age lines and salt & pepper grey hair, Harry exclaimed, “Bloody hell!”

Maria reached out and took Harry’s other hand, “Maybe those ten years will be just as bad for you!”

Harry just kept looking at the mirror and seeing a middle age man staring back at him. He realized that maybe him being tired and sleeping more wasn’t just stress but him just being more normal.

It suddenly hit him. He’d been away from Earth a long time but until recently hadn’t used any magic. Using Fiendfyre used a lot of magical energy and he’d used even more to help keep the Phoenix from being destroyed when it rammed the Devorian dreadnaught. Could it be that the last bit of Earth’s magic was finally draining away? Was his actual age finally catching up with him?

Harry dispelled the mirror and realized how what would have been something he did without a thought had become something like it felt when he’d been at Hogwarts. He’d been so preoccupied with things, the guilt from destroying Galaron III being the biggest, he hadn’t noticed.

He was almost 400 years old. Older than the oldest magical had ever lived. Harry realized he might not last 10 months let alone ten years. Bloody hell indeed!

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** : Next chapter we’ll finally get to see what Harry thinks on being a planet killer and not what he says to others! Hopefully, I can write it before the air quality kills me. As I’m posting this, I’m on day 4 in a row of air quality rated as Hazardous and _**worst in the world**_. Again, as I post this, the current air quality index is at 509 which is 209 point above what is rated as hazardous.

**Voyager or Harry Potter** : So there has been a lot of reviewers who brought up something I hadn’t thought about. That being this is a Harry centric fic even though it’s listed as a Voyager/HP cross-over and not the other way around. Well I see it as a Harry Potter fic based in the Star Trek universe but it is mostly a Star Trek fic regardless. Same as _Spider-Mage_ is a Harry Potter fic but it’s more set in my MCU than it is in the Harry Potter magical world.

That being said, we’re getting into episodes where we can get more focus on the other characters. Still, I’m used to writing Harry as the POV and so I’m sorry many of you are here more for the Voyager stuff than the Harry Potter stuff.

**The Skurk** : One thing I’ve brought up in regard to Voyager crew is how they can have background characters which are seen in multiple episodes who aren’t even given names in the script. So the actor playing the character I made into Jonna Hommein never had a name. I find that odd from a production POV. “Hey you! Yeah you, crewman 18! Don’t hunch over the console so much!” Likewise, the aliens in the episode _Gravity_ don’t even rate a name. Not even one to put on their masks during production. I guess they were just “Gravity aliens” which is just weird given how in Star Wars land, EVERYTHING has a backstory. Well in the Memory Alpha page for this episode’s write up, there was a line about ‘marauding aliens’ so I ended up going with Afrikaans Google translation of the English word marauder.

**Paroli** : Anyone who can speak Esperanto will recognize what everyone is saying. Normally I’d just say cut and paste this into Google but you can’t do that from FF.net. Remember, all the speakers are deliberately speaking simply.

Ĉi tie! Mi trovis ilin! = Here! I found them!

Ne ‘mi iras’! and Mi venas’ ĝusta = No ‘I go” and “I come correct” Basically Paris said, “I go” to stand in for “I’m coming” and Noss corrected him.

Ni kuras? Ni batalas? = We run? We fight?

Ni batalas ĉi tie = No we fight

Ĉu vi Skurk pretas morti hodiaŭ? = Are you Skurk ready to die today?

Paciĝi kun Skurk? Vi bone? Vi malbona? = “Peace with Skurk?” You good? You bad?”

Mi bonas pri tio = I’m good with that

Amikoj bono = Friends good\

**The Below is Sort of a Rant; Read at your own risk.**

**AU Future History** : I knew I was going to get flak from my inclusion of _Netanyahu_ and _Xi_ last chapter. I want to reiterate that this story is **in the future** so whatever the pair has done as of _**today**_ and what they might do in the years to come is another thing entirely. Both Israel and China have set the stage for actions we’ve seen result in genocide too many times in history. I also had people say, “Netanyahu got voted out” to which I point out that we’re in the AU Star Trek timeline where I’ve already had to alter given the Eugenics War was supposed to end in 1996. So, from the standpoint of the story, things are worse in 2020 than they currently are…although that’s sort of hard to imagine given how 2020 has been so far. So yes, sorry to say I can very much see Israel totally ignoring the lessons of WW II and the various other purges and using the chaos and stress of things like climate change to step up to over genocide of the Palestinians and other enemies. We know Israel has publicly threatened the likes of Iran with nuclear strikes and had to be talked out of using nukes against Saddam Hussein prior to Desert Storm kicking off.

Israel is not the underdog of the 70’s but the premier military power in the region and they have systematically been doing to the Palestinians what the US did to our own First Natives. They break treaties, conduct provoking actions and then use any violent act against that provocation to use disproportionate military response in retaliation. From the standpoint of a lot of people on the ground, it will be they sent off to camps by the Israelis which would be probably one of the most tragically ironic world events ever. You can agree with this or not. Frankly, I think it’s highly likely because no matter what Israel does, there is this huge pushback against any criticism of them which are at odds with the actual story on the ground. Again, the weak Israel surrounded by heavily armed Arab nations is a reality which **DOES NOT EXIST** anymore.

My point is from where I sit as a history buff and former Army intelligence analyst, it’s not looking too good for the Palestinians nor the Uighurs. And for that matter, if I wanted to add more people to that list, I would certainly have added Ram Nath Kovind give the way his nationalistic Indian government is going along with how they are dealing with Kashmir. In fact, his actions could easily be seen as making it easier for Khan to gain power in the region by hijacking the movement.

The only reason I didn’t add Trump to that list is I’m thinking that for this story, the chaos from the 2020 election will cause a civil war in the United States (or at least massive unrest) which continues the US’s withdrawal off the global stage which contributes to the coming Eugenics War.

And if you don’t think Trump and his people wouldn’t have any issues with tossing someone with my beliefs into a death camp, you haven’t been paying attention to the GOP and right-wing movements of the last few decades. It was clear back in the Reagan years that after the Civil Rights & Anti-Vietnam era, a big portion of Americans were all for shipping off ‘unpatriotic’ types to fates better left unsaid. You can see that today with Patriot Prayer people from my home here in Vancouver wearing t-shirts proclaiming Pinochet’s penchant for having Leftists thrown out of helicopters as the _**right idea**_. I submit that anyone how thinks throwing people out of helicopters is a good idea is capable of almost anything.


	17. Gravity - Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens_.” – **Heywood “Woody” Allen** – American director, writer, actor, and comedian – 1935 – Present

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 09-16-2020

**ARRAKEEN – 2 MONTHS, 14 DAYS AFTER CRASH**

“I don’t think he has much time left,” Maria said quietly to Tom as she worked on repairing a power conduit from the Flyer to the Vaartig. The sun had yet to come up but there was enough light to work by. There was a sadly a short window of comfort between the icy chill of nighttime and the blistering heat of the day. Therefore, this time of the morning was the favorite time to do any work on the outside of their home for the foreseeable future.

Paris looked up from where he was looking over meteorological sent down from the balloon he had dubbed the Verne after the classic book _Around the World in 80 Days_. It had been a favorite of his mother’s and she had read it too him often when he was a child. Probably why he ended up becoming a pilot and love of speed. He looked in the direction of where his lover was looking to see Harry Potter standing alone, leaning on a staff on an outcropping that afforded a good view of the terrain below. He’d been up there a lot of late.

Tom sighed, “It must be odd, thinking you’re going to live forever. Making your peace with knowing you’ll outlive everyone you love. Then to find your life is going to be over soon. It’s like he’s just treading water till his time comes.”

“I think he welcomes it. Because of what he did to Galaron III,” Maria said sadly.

Paris shook his head and laughed humorlessly, “Maybe he does. But I probably know more about him than anyone else. We talked a lot while everyone thought I was cooling my heels in the cell on Voyager. It took a while but I know enough to think it has less to do with the actual crime and just that he was conditioned to feel responsible. All his life, he’s been put into a position where he had to act or others might die. It’s funny, in a sick way. You know I’m a big fan of a lot of stuff from around time that Harry actually grew up in, right?”

Maria nodded, “I think all the movies and other weird crap you do makes that obvious.”

Paris grinned, “Oh you know you love me for it.”

Maria found herself smiling even with how sad it was for Harry, “Yes, for who knows why, I actually do.”

Paris’s face softened and the two share a silent moment together; happy to simply be with one another. Paris finally said, “Well there were a lot of movies around the time the one Harry’s armor comes from which were about another super-hero. That character’s mantra was ‘With great power comes with great responsibility’ which sounds like a wise saying, right?”

“I’m sensing a but coming on,” Maria said as she went back to the power conduit which was stubbornly resisting repair.

“You got it. Listening to Harry I realize how much power can be a curse. In fact, I have to say I sort of understand the Commodore better. I mean what do you do when something happens and you’re there and you could make a difference. Even if it’s not your business or place, you _are_ there. You _could_ help. To do nothing might seem like moral cowardice.” Paris said as he began to flip one of Maria’s spanner’s around as he spoke.

“I think Tuvok would say that sort of thinking is what gets us humans into trouble. We equate responsibility with a moral duty,” Maria pointed out. “Treana would also say that you don’t owe the universe anything. If you were to help, it’s on you. The lives of others are their own responsibility. I’d say things were situational and leave it at that.”

Paris nodded, “Sound about right on all counts. I’m just saying that Harry got two things hammered into him as a kid. His abusive relatives told him he was a freak, a burden, someone people would be better off without. Then, when he got into the magical world, he was hailed as a hero and had the sacrifice of his martyred parents practically beaten into him. His own mentor might well have been guilty of manipulating this because of a prophecy he knew since a little after Harry had been born. Harry told me that he often feels everything in his early life was fiddled with so he’d be at the right place, in the right frame of mind to go willingly to his death.”

“But he didn’t die, obviously,” Maria pointed out. She continued to work before she realize that a long time had gone by without Tom saying anything. She looked up to see him have a pensive look on his face, “Tom, he didn’t die, right?”

Paris shook his head, “I don’t know, babe. From what he told me after we killed a lot of alcohol was he did die but he didn’t stay dead. You know any of the really old Earth myths?”

Maria nodded, “A far amount. My dad was an anthropology teacher before he retired. That and I’ve looked at a lot of the stuff Treana has been reading to learn more about humans and their culture.”

“So, you know a lot of the ancient Greek myths?” Tom asked.

“Come on Tom! Most people know them. It doesn’t help every other spaceship is still named after one of those old gods or heroes,” Maria said with an exasperated look.

Paris shook his head and grinned sheepishly, “Right. Sorry. Anyway, the way Harry put it was it was like he died but then because he had a piece of Voldemort’s soul in him, when it came time to pay the Ferryman to cross into Death’s realm, it was a one soul, one trip sort of thing. So, Harry didn’t have to go on. He had the option of coming back. To me, it sounds like he was dead; it just didn’t stick. The sad thing is, he had a choice to go be with his dead loved ones and get off the crazy ride his life had been but the drive to save his friends was strong. So here he is, almost 400 years later and literally billions of lives dead at his hands because of that choice.”

Maria whistled softly, “Wow…that’s fucked up. No wonder Harry says he’s messed up. I can’t imagine how people must have treated him when that came up.”

Again, Paris laughed humorlessly, “Oh Harry hated the ‘Jesus-Lite’ reputation he got from people in the know. In fact, it keeps happening. Harry told me that one of the reasons Treana jumped him was he was like her God who had saved her from the Borg.”

Maria snorted. She could well imagine how uncomfortable that probably made Harry feel. Still, she doubted Harry hated how it led the Orion into his bed. She’d never really looked at women sexually before Treana. Oh sure, there was always the push back home to try and overcome “biological determinism” and the like. She just hadn’t gone through the phase a lot of her friends did where it seemed edgy to ignore men and only date girls. Not that her home planet wasn’t anything but rather backwards and Maria knew it. With Treana, however, it was hard not to be totally taken in by her and given Orion women’s pheromones only worked on males, the desire had been all due to Treana’s force of personality and excellent actions in bed…or in the shower, on the floor, or against the wall or wherever the Orion felt she could get away with it.

Maria thought about how much life and love could be contained in just the confines of their bed when she, Treana and Paris really got into it. It saddened her that Harry got cheated out it. Harry had admitted to her once when she and Tom had visited him on the _Phoenix_ how while in one sense he very much loved his wife and three children, they were very much a product of the life he had been expected to lead. The life mapped out by everyone else but him. Even now, with a sort of fresh start in the 24th Century, Harry was going to be denied that.

A thought struck her, “I think he’s tired of being the Master of Death if anything.”

Paris stopped flipping the spanner and looked at her, “What do you mean?”

Maria put down her own tools and turned more towards Tom. “Look, Harry went from an abusive home right into the beginnings of a civil war. He killed his first person at eleven, right? Then after the war, he ends up in the marriage everyone expected of him and into the job he’d sort of been conditioned to take.”

Paris nodded, “Being an auror, right. He once told me he did try, right after the war, to quit so he could become a professional Quidditch player but everyone told him how needed he was and what a symbol of hope for England he was.”

Maria nodded, “Exactly! Harry deferred what he wanted because of this sense of responsibility. Then he ends up having to send all of his people away to save them even though he couldn’t save himself. Then what? The next decade or so he’s killing his way into the history books.”

“Yeah but he did that to be able to save people and get them away before the nuclear war,” Paris pointed out.

Maria snorted, “Only to have them all assimilated. So, in the end, all that death for nothing. While I’m sure Treana and all the other drones would deny it, I have to ask, was suffering for almost 200 years to save the lives of those few drones worth it? He finally escapes the Borg and he inadvertently helps Janeway kill a lot of Species 8472. The Hirogen were probably barely a blip on his scanners given his history. Then what happens?”

Paris looked sad and looked away, “He’s got to rush in to save the day but ends up killing an entire planet in the process.”

Maria nodded, “Yes, he saved us at the cost of Galaron III. For all he life, he’s tried to do the right thing and the biggest result is that the bodies of his enemies far outweigh the lives he saved. He truly is a Master of Death. He hasn’t become Death’s master but a master in dealing out death and I think he’s happy that his days of killing his way to save people is almost over.”

Paris looked back up to where Harry stood, his billowy desert clothes flapping in the wind. “I think you’re right about that.”

**XxXxX**

**6km FROM ARRAKEEN – 2 MONTHS, 22 DAYS AFTER CRASH**

“What are you doing out here, Harry?” Samantha asked as she crested the summit of the hill to find the wizard sitting on a rock, leaning on his staff while staring out over the craggy landscape. Jengo, the Skurk botanist followed behind her, carrying a backpack almost ran into her due to her stopping so fast.

Harry turned, “Making Jengo your Sherpa again, I see.” His voice sounded old to his ears. Then again, he finally was looking his age. He was sort of disappointed that he never got a chance to grow a Dumbledore beard and see if beard curling was as interesting as Dumbledore seem to think it was. Of course, in this land of sand and grit, it would just be that much more to get dirty and fouled.

Samantha scowled but Jengo perked up at the sound of her name. “I help!” While technically true, referring to Jengo as female was simply because she was female at this time as were most of the Skurks not in cryostasis. Only Gazali and a Skurk named Tern who did a lot of scouting were currently male. In Skurk society, there was little difference between whatever gender a Skurk was at that the time. It wasn’t uncommon for a Skurk to change gender once or twice in their lifespan. Indeed, paired Skurks would often have one father a child to the other, then switch gender before having another child. Both Maria and Samantha felt a bit cheated that they could not do the same. Harry bet Tom was rather smug about it.

With the reality of them spending at least the next ten years here, Tom and Maria were still weighing whether or not to have a child. Sometimes Harry wondered if Noss might be starting to think the same thing regarding Tuvok by the way she looked at him when he wasn’t watching.

Harry watched as Samantha and Jengo began to take some soil samples. He knew they were trying to get a reading from various points on how long this area had been the arid wasteland it was. Finding new sources of water was critical with Harry rapidly losing the ability to create water. With there local being so dry, it was imperative to find more water even as Tuvok and others were working on plans to glean moisture from the air like the Vulcans of old had done.

Due to the terrain and climate, they ended up calling the planet Tartarus in keeping with the original Terran theme of using the Roman name of Greek gods. Although Harry had felt Tom’s oft repeated joke of it being “as hot as Hades” got old quickly.

For his part, Harry had rapidly gotten to understand why older folks disliked the cold. His bones ached if he had to go outside after dark. Of course, as the days went by, almost everything ached. Worse were his old wounds, almost long forgotten which ached the worse. The scar from the basilisk fang and the one from the Hungarian Horntail being the two that hurt the most. Harry was surprised the one scar he expected to hurt, the one on his forehead, didn’t.

As Harry continue to sit on the boulder he’d been perched on since before first light, he alternated between watching Samantha and Jengo go about trying to work around the language barrier. The Skurk tongue proved to be almost impossible for humans to speak so everyone alternated between Federation Standard and Paroli. Most of the Skurks knew enough of that tongue that it was fast becoming the standard away from camp. Tom lamented Treana was picking it up Paroli faster than she was Standard.

Harry had learned just three days ago that he couldn’t speak Parsel speech any longer. He’d often used that language to keep the snakes away or bribing some with food to help keep other snakes and the spiders out of the camp. He missed it. Snakes weren’t much in the way of conversation but it had helped pass the time.

He brought up his binoculars as his eyes had rapidly deteriorated back to being worse than when he was a teen. He didn’t have the interface to fiddle with the repurposed Borg nanotech in his body so he couldn’t correct it and while they had sand a plenty, no one knew to make old fashioned glasses and med kits didn’t come stocked with Retinax V. The visors everyone wore during the day to save one’s eyes from the glare didn’t help either.

He didn’t know what he was looking for. Still, it gave Harry comfort to come out and watch. Most days he hung out around the Verne and worked to keep it afloat. With his magic waning, they were back to using hot air for floatation. He could run the heating unit well enough. With his body aging rapidly, it wasn’t like Harry was in any condition to do any of the more manual work needed around the camp.

Harry sighed. There had been so much he could be doing with magic. Now the small camp was struggling even with the Federation tech and power from the Flyer. But then again, it was probably best that they quickly were weaned off his magic given they’d be here long after he finally died.

And he was dying. He could almost feel the seconds ticking away. The Deathly Hallows would be returning to their maker soon enough.

“You alright there Harry?” Samantha asked from where she sat cross-legged in the lee of a boulder. “You look sad.”

Harry smiled thinly, “Just wishing this wasting away had come later. I was looking forward to going out to find out who else might be out there. Plus, who knows? With enough wrecks, we probably could cobble together a lifter with the speed and range to do some real exploring. There could be an ocean filled with fish just a few hundred kilometers in any direction. Or cities filled with sentients. It would have been fun. I never got to do any of that. Exploring I mean. Never got to do much of anything fun now that I think of it. Just a lot of duty and death.”

Harry sighed and cursed himself. He was getting far too depressive of late. He felt if Susan Bones or Hannah Abbot were here, they’d call him Emo McBroodypants like they sometimes did when he’d get in a mood while teaching the D.A. back in Fifth Year.

Samantha must have picked up at that, “Well no matter the death toll, Harry, you saved a lot of people. It’s easy to kill and destroy as you well know. But having the guts to tough it out and do the right thing? Not as easy.”

Harry chuffed at that but still smiled, “True enough. I put a lot of people who deserved it into the ground. I guess it’s just eating at me I won’t get to see most of my friends and family again.”

Samantha frowned at that, “What do you mean? Is this a religious thing? Do you feel your afterlife will be in torment?”

Harry laughed but this ended in a bout of coughing which lasted till Jengo gave him a canteen filled with water to drink from. He gave the Skurk the Zahl hand gesture for thanks he’d picked up from Noss.

Finally, he turned back to Samantha who still wore a very maternal look of concern on her face. At least she never tried to mother him like Molly Weasley always did. He appreciated that. “No, it’s not like I think I’m going to hell. It’s just the Resurrection Stone works as you saw last month or so. But after I got in a better state of mind after being off that Cube, I tried to call up people I sent off to the Fairy Realm. Even with knowing that that realm is like this sub-space pocket and time is different, everyone I knew would still be dead by now. I couldn’t call any of them. So even in death, I’ll never see them again.”

Samantha was silent for a moment, “Your ability to call up the dead is disturbing but also gives me hope. Even if I die here or die of old age before the Fleet gets back to the Alpha Quadrant, I now have a better hope of seeing my husband again.”

Harry nodded, “It helps one get out of bed, doesn’t it? My old mentor once said death was just life’s next great adventure. Well I’ll find out soon enough. I just wish I weren’t leaving you all in such a state. It’s going to be tough till Voyager can come through.”

Samantha got up and put a hand on Harry’s shoulder, “You don’t have to worry about us, Harry. We’ll managed. Besides, I think Tom is to stubborn to let us get snuffed out and I can’t think of anyone else from the Fleet I’d rather have here than Tuvok. We’ll make do.”

Harry nodded as he grasped Samantha’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “I know. I just sort of wished I could be there. As bad as Tartarus is, well it’s something we’re all creating together, right? That’s something new for me. Never got to play with all those toys most kids get to have. Building things, your imagination your only limitation. I guess in the back of my mind, I felt that I might get to do a bit of that here. Oh well, my life has been a litany of missed choices. Don’t see why my death should be any different. Just name something after me…preferably not the latrine though.”

Samantha laughed, “What, you don’t want Tom to erect the Potter Memorial Pooper House?”

Again, Harry was wracked with coughing from laughing at this.

**XxXxX**

**UNKNOWN DISTANCE FROM ARRAKEEN – 2 MONTHS, 27 DAYS AFTER CRASH**

Harry looked down into the darkness. So far, caves weren’t something they found around Arrakeen. Even with Harry’s blurry vision, it seemed like this was an ancient waterway that led into some underground river or lake.

Harry looked to the sky. It looked like a storm was coming. He had been debating trying to see if perhaps there was signs of water in the cave but it was a steep go for Harry’s now old bones. It looked, however, like Tartarus was making up his mind for him.

Typical, he was being pushed into a decision instead of him deciding.

Still, he’d rather die in a fall than have a sand-storm rip him to shreds. Besides, if he did find some hint of water, he could set off his emergency beacon. He might be dead before anyone reached him but at least the others would find the water they so desperately needed with him unable to magically summon more.

With a long-suffering sigh, Harry began to laboriously pick his way down into the gloom after taking out and putting on his head-lamp. It was incredibly slow-going given Harry had to stop and rest as well as being weak. He’d been at it for almost two hours when the inevitable happened and he slipped. However, his ‘luck superpower’ seemed not to be magic related as he slid down like he was falling into the Chamber of Secrets again.

This slide ended painfully but old as he was, he was still a wizard enough to bounce a bit. As he lay gasping for air and in pain, Harry had a twinge of nostalgia and thought of Neville Longbottom. Harry figured Neville felt being cast into the Fairy Realm to be a good thing as it would give him new plants to discover. He hoped Luna had found similar joy in the animals.

Harry finally gingerly got to his feet and looked around his tomb. For he knew there was no way he was getting back up that incline. He was definitely going to die here. Not that it matter. He’d left Arrakeen knowing he was about to die. As much as he enjoyed the company, at the last, Harry didn’t want the pity. Also, isn’t that what legends did? Disappear and leave hope that one day, when times were dire, they’d reappear to save the day?

Harry’s snort of mirth echoed in the chamber. Harry had enough “Sword in the Stone” sort of adventure back in his Second Year. He planned on staying dead this time.

He looked around and in the light of the head-lamp, Harry saw the light reflecting back in an odd way. He went over and sure enough, the walls were a hair’s breadth away from being damp. The air certainly felt almost muggy compared to the surface. Still, there wasn’t much else but a few holes he doubted he could fit through. He vaguely remembered a show he’d watched once with Dan Granger about caves divers. Harry remembered thinking that even though his days in the cupboard under the stairs made him slightly agoraphobic, watching those divers squeeze through holes to go into unknown chambers when they were already so deep underground had given him the willies. If water ever did flow here, it likely went down those holes. Maybe deep below, water laid there still.

Harry found that almost in the center of the chamber was a flat rock. Harry snorted again. It was just about the right size and height to remind him of Dumbledore’s coffin in the mausoleum Voldemort had desecrated. How fitting. Fate seemed to once again be toying with him.

Harry thought about relieving himself but realized he didn’t have too even though it had been a long time since he’d done so and he’d drunk a fair bit since then. With a shake of his head, he climbed onto the rock and laid on his back. He’d already forgotten about setting off his emergency beacon in regard to the possibility of nearby water.

Harry felt tired and thought Death would probably come while he slept. He certainly hoped so. Wasting away for a day or more didn’t sound appealing.

**OoOoO**

Harry’s eyes snapped open. Without moving, Harry concentrated on the feeling. There! It was faint but also powerful. The lack of light seemed to make it easier to focus on the feeling and resist trying to see something Harry knew one couldn’t see with the naked eye.

He lay there for who knows how long. His body felt like a dried-out husk, more dead than alive. Yet his body felt a connection to something…

…something like magic!

As Harry laid there, he began to feel like he was standing over sleeping river. A river of magic. A river he could dive into, drink up and possibly be reborn. A strangled chuckle almost startled him as he had that thought. Hermione had once remarked how similar his life had been to King Arthur. Raised unknowing of his past or his family history. Spirit off by an ancient wizard. Now it seemed, as Death loomed, the Holy Grail appeared. A reprieve from the icy feeling which was creeping closer to his heart.

Why hadn’t he felt this magic before? Had he needed to deplete the Earth magic before he could feel the magic of this planet? Did it matter? He could almost taste the magic and the parts of his body he could still feel seemed to hum with anticipation.

Even with no one to see it, Harry shook his head. No. Not this time. All his life, right when things looked lost, some magical thing always appeared. Some way out or just the right tool to escape death to be found or brought, at the last minute, on the claws of a phoenix. It was like he was some plaything to a bored god. Maybe by one of those Q people kept talking about.

This time it was different. The only person to save was himself and he didn’t want to do it. Not because he felt he should die or that he deserve to, but that it was time. He was tired. Tired of the killing, tired of the duty. Tired of hearing the cries for help and not being able to ignore them. His whole life seemed to be one encounter after another where he had to react and usually towards two doors but circumstances always had him choosing the same door.

With only his own life on the line, he was finally free to choose the other door. To choose to end the story at last and close the book.

That and there was the feeling he had had since leaving the Borg Cube that Fate still had more in store for him. More adventures Harry had never signed up for. All the more reason to not take up this potential last-minute rescue from death.

He thought of Dumbledore’s words regarding Nicholas Flamel and understood why the man had chosen to move on rather than make a new Philosopher’s Stone. He too must have felt that too much life was more a curse than a blessing.

For once, Harry was going to reject the path Fate seem to be dangling in front of him. Besides, with the rest of Earth’s Magicals safe in the Fairy Realm, he no longer wanted to be the magical equivalent of One of One.

He closed his eyes after realizing they were open (it was completely black in the chamber after all) and adjusted himself to a more comfortable position.

Then, after a minute or so, Harry Potter finally died.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

Short chapter because I realized it was a good cut-off point…if a bit of a cliff-hanger because the next bit might run long and itself is a self-contained bit. As you can probably guess, the “Gravity” arc is going to run for a few chapters due to the time frame involved.

 **Retinax V** : Raise your hand if you get this bit of Star Trek trivia!

 **Characters** : Given you’ll be seeing them for a while, a quick reminder of who is involved.

Tuvok: Obvious

Tom Paris: Obvious

Samantha Wildman: I previously thought Samantha Wildman had died. Probably because I never whated the episode _Once Upon A Time_ all the way through. However, I think I can be forgiven given we never see her again except in scenes set in the past in the episode _Fury_. In fact, every time Naomi talks of her mom later, it's like "Well Mom says/said" in a manner where it's unclear if it's something her mom said recently or said before she died. It's interesting how little we see of B'Elanna's baby after it's born or that the only mother on the ship (before her) just got dropped off. I mean how many other's saw how Seven and Neelix acted towards Naomi as being surrogate parents to an orphaned child?

Maria Gilmore: The blonde gal who rebels against Captain Ransom in episodes _The Equinox 1 & 2_. She, like the other characters from that ship drop off the show even as they remain on board. Formerly an ensign and in canon was held the chief engineer slot in the tiny crew of the Equinox. She is a civilian and romantically involved with Tom and Treana.

Treana: Former Orion slave girl assimilated around 150-200 years ago. Worked as a drone in a field similar to astrometrics. While she works with Seven, she is essentially a civilian doing the job.

Zim: As stated before, there is a back-up copy for emergencies kept in the Flyer. While perhaps not as good as the Doctor in medicine, his range of sub-routines is greater and thus more versatile on away missions. He is essentially the camp’s ship’s computer given he doesn’t have a mobile emitter.

Noss: Alien from the episode _Gravity_. Again, like so many aliens, we never find out what race she is. Given how the Zahl were mentioned but never shown, I figured why not make Noss a Zahl? This also made dealing with the language potentially easier as the crew had some contact with the Zahl before.

Gazali: Male Skurk and current leader of those Skurks not in cryostasis.

Jenga: Female Skurk botanist and frequent co-worker with Ensign Wildman due to her life-science background.

Others: Obviously, there are 10 other Skurks awake in the camp.


	18. Gravity  - Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : : “ _To die, to sleep - To sleep, perchance to dream - ay, there's the rub. For in this sleep of death what dreams may come?_ ” (Hamlet) – **William Shakespeare** – English playwright, poet, and actor, and bane of English students ever since. – 1564 – 1616

**LAST UPDATED ON** : 09-18-2020

Harry opened his eyes. He quickly shut them again and counted to ten. He opened them again, groaned and counted to ten again, this time in Gobbledygook. (He’d learned a smattering of it from a book Hermione had brought along with everything else in Seventh Year. He had to do something besides just stare at the dark during guard duty around the tent back when Hermione, he and Ron were on the run.)

He opened his eyes again and finally swore, “Bloody hell! You’ve GOT to be fucking kidding me!”

Grumbling, Harry got to his feet. He noticed that he was again in his late 20’s or 30’s and once again naked. His body did seem a bit different. Maybe this is how he should have looked if he’d aged normally?

Harry looked around the white expanse of blankness. He didn’t bother with thinking of clothes. Any nudity taboo he once had had got burned out of him during the Eugenics War. He’d showered, bathed and changed far too often in mixed company to care these days.

He picked a direction and started walking. Harry wondered what would manifest this time. He was far beyond Kings Cross station for so many reasons. Of course, Harry realized that this could quite possibly be his eternal torment. Damned to this white nothingness forever.

Yet even as Harry thought this, a ghostly setting formed around him. Even after all these years, Harry knew it was the third corridor on the first floor of Hogwarts. It was the main way Gryffindors got to the main hall. He found himself clothed in school robes with Gryffindor colors. He sighed at that. It had been around 380 years since he needed to wear one of this uniform. At the very least he should be wearing his old auror robes. He was mollified that the robes had his Quidditch Captain badge attached.

Soon enough, Harry found himself in front of the huge, ornate doors of the Great Hall. Harry paused and smiled. It was better than the dungeons. If this were eternal damnation, endless potions classes with Snape probably would count as Hell in most of his friend’s opinions.

He pushed the door open to find the Great Hall mostly empty. Harry looked up and saw the Scottish night sky, speckled with stars and a waxing, gibbous moon. Movement caught his eye and Harry was mildly surprised to see Dumbledore playing chess with Voldemort on a small table before the podium in front of the teacher’s table.

As Harry walked towards them, he noticed that each of the House tables had a scattering of people. He quickly realized that all of them were those who had died during the Battle of Hogwarts. At the teacher’s table, instead of professors, sat his parents, Sirius, Remus & Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody and oddly enough Cedric Diggory who sat in Dumbledore’s gold throne-like chair.

As he came up to the table his mentor and his nemesis played at, Harry noticed that while all the people in the room looked at him, they went back to watching the two wizards play. Harry looked down and saw that while Dumbledore had taken far more of Voldemort’s pieces, he was losing. Typical. Voldemort had no trouble throwing away his pawns to achieve his ends and Dumbledore relied too much on subtlety for his own good in the face of the danger of simply being rolled over by his foe.

He watched them play a few moves before asking, “So…do I play winner?”

Voldemort looked up with a sneer on his reptilian face, “You’ve already given up. Why should you be rewarded for being weak?”

A few of the watchers muttered between themselves and a few were nodding their heads at Voldemort’s words.

Harry just chuckled, “Coming from you, I could see how you’d think that. So afraid of death you ensured you could never truly live.” He turned to Dumbledore, “And you? I’m sure you’re probably going to sigh and tell me how disappointed you are in me.”

Harry was surprised that Dumbledore sighed and did just that, “You _are_ a disappointment, Harry. I thought I had taught you better, that Hogwarts had taught you better. I spent so much of my life fighting dark wizards. Wizards whose hands were forever stained with blood. I raised you up to keep up that fight after I died and yet you become worse than either Grindelwald or Voldemort ever dreamed of being.”

Before Harry could heatedly respond to that, Voldemort burst out laughing, “Worse than Gellert or I? That is what you think? Death hasn’t cured you of your delusions old man. What Potter did was show his _power_. He showed them his _superiority_!” Voldemort looked up at Harry even as he moved a rook to take one of Dumbledore’s bishops. “Grindelwald shook our world and showed what we always could have done. I had planned to follow in his footsteps before my plans ended…poorly. But you? You went farther than either of us did. But you threw away the chance! You sent our people into exile when you could have led them to glory! To power over the Muggles at last.”

Harry shrugged, “For a wizard undone by prophecy, I think you also haven’t learned anything in death. I sent our people away to save them because it seemed they were fated to die if they stayed. I wasn’t going to take the chance of losing them all and certainly wasn’t going to turn them into an army trying to prove the seers wrong.”

Harry turned to Dumbledore, “Yes, I killed a lot of people. Yet I was following what I thought was right over what was easy. Sound like familiar advice, Headmaster? Looking back, though, I have to wonder. Is that the only choice? Right over Easy?”

Harry crossed his arms and an angry look flitted across his face, “If there is one thing I’ve learned is what is right is highly subjective. I did a lot of things I felt were right but does that make it so? No, I think there is choosing the easy path and then there is the choice of which **hard** choice you’re willing to make. You could have taken the fight to the Dark before it got to war. You certainly saw the signs before Tom here was out of Hogwarts. But no, you felt it was _right_ to take a path of reconciliation, of peace in our time and turning the other cheek.” Harry gestured to all the shades watching, ‘Look at the victims of that thinking.”

Dumbledore looked up at Harry over the rims of his half-moon glasses, ‘You say I should have struck the first blow? Drawn the first blood? How could that ever be right?”

Harry sighed, “Because, Albus, regardless of how the Magical world seemed to work, life is not black and white but shades of grey. Sadly, what is often thought as being the right choice is simply whatever choice the victor made. Voldemort is right about that. In the end, power is often the only real currency that matters. Those with power usually dictate what is considered right.”

Voldemort looked smug at this…as much as a wizard without a nose, hair or eyebrows could look smug that is.

Harry waggled his finger at Voldemort, “Don’t get excited, Tom.” He turned back to Dumbledore, “Because there was always a difference between you and Gellert or Tom here. You and most everyone else were willing to get along. They might not like each other, but they could agree to disagree and live out their lives without trying to exterminate the other. Not so for the other side of the coin. Grindelwald’s Knights of Walpurgis or Voldemort’s Death Eaters were the epitome of _our way_ or _death_. In the grand scheme of things, killing those who refuse to cooperate leaves those that _can_ alive at the end of the day. You let your earlier failings rule you till the end, Albus. Power shared and respected does not need to slide into abuse. But then again, you sharing was as likely as Voldemort loving.”

Before either wizard could respond, Harry made a chopping motion, “But enough of the metaphysical bollocks. Why am I here? I lived, I died, I lived again and now I’ve died again and this time I want my ‘next great adventure’ you nattered on about, Dumbledore. You say I have done worse things in my life? Well one of them is I’ve outgrown all of this,” Harry said a with wave to encompass the room. “This was only seven years of my life. I fulfilled my prophecy. I fought in my war; I _died_ in my war. I saved the Magical world from its prophesied extinction and then fought in a war which made the Grindelwald’s look like a skirmish before I left Earth behind. I’ve already lived through two centuries of purgatory. I’ve even killed an entire planet. ‘ _Great things; terrible, yet great_ ’ as the late Ollivander told me when I took up the brother to Voldemort’s wand. So, from my perspective, I’m just not all that impressed with this stroll down memory lane. Let’s get to the point shall we?”

Voldemort hissed in annoyance as Dumbledore took one of his pawns and threatened his queen. He made a quick move before once again looking up with a sneer, “You outgrowing this is the point! You’ve turned your back on a heritage that even now you could take up, make to flourish again and shake the universe in the process.”

Harry frowned, “I’m not taking up anything, Voldy. I’m dead. Full Stop. I’m just looking for the train.”

Dumbledore sighed, “That is not exactly true, my boy as…”

“I am **NOT** your boy, you pretentious wanker! I’m older than both of you put together. Don’t patronize me!” Harry hissed out angrily. This caused the watching shades to begin muttering again amongst themselves. Even those at the head table looked shocked at his vehemence.

Dumbledore stared at him in annoyance before his face softened and he nodded, “My apologies. As I was saying, you are not dead yet.”

Harry threw up his hands, “Fucking hell! Am I just ‘mostly dead’ then? For Merlin’s sake! The stories have people having to beat Death in a game to get out of dying. Do I have to win a fucking tournament before I get to die?”

“You are the last wizard of Earth, Harry Potter. For you to go to your death is not an insignificant act,” Dumbledore said in a cool, tone Harry remembered the wizard reserving for the likes of Lucius Malfoy.

Voldemort nodded, “Your death is our final death. No one to tell our stories. No one to remember what was. Extinct from the universe.”

Harry leaned closer to Voldemort, “I don’t care.”

Both wizards blinked at this, “What?” they even said in unison.

Harry repeated it louder, “I. Don’t. Care. I’m surprised at you, Albus. From Tom here, I can understand it. His very name means running away from death. But you? Weren’t you the one all about not fearing death? But I can see we’re going in circles here so, what the hell? Let’s see what you’re selling. Maybe I’ll finally get my train-ride if I hear you out.” He turned to Voldemort, “Make your pitch.”

Voldemort moved a knight and took one of Dumbledore’s pawns, “Check.” The dark wizard turned back to Harry. “You admit power is what counts. Do not let our power go out of the universe! You can return, take up the magic. Rebuild and finally put the Magical world among the great people of the galaxy.”

Harry laughed, “What do you know of the galaxy, Tom? We were just starting the next phase of Mars probes and the Orbital Lunar base by the time you died.”

Voldemort smirked, “The dead know many things. I know that you’re probably already thinking what can one magical do? But you’re a magical who has the Deathly Hallows. You’re a magical who has access to amazing technology. Imagine what you could do with maturation chambers? Also, even though the magic is gone, are the genes? How many latent Magicals are out there? Tame this planets magic and then you have the keys to do it elsewhere. You told the Wildman woman you didn’t have a chance to build. You have the tools to build an empire such has never been seen if you just seize the moment!”

Before Harry could respond to this, Voldemort’s smirk turned into an evil smile, “And if the Borg can break into Fluidic Space, could the barriers between our universe and the Fae be that much different? You could return our people, with all they took with them, and bring them back to where they belong.”

Harry snorted, “Only by ripping them from the home they’ve created for themselves over the last two centuries and throw them into a universe completely outside their experience. Most Magicals couldn’t wrap their head around airplanes back in the day and you think they’ll be happy in a galaxy filled with star spanning empires?”

Voldemort hissed, “Their acceptance is not the point. You have the power and if you free them, those that resist can be dealt with and the rest will be stronger for it.”

Harry rolled his eyes, ‘Thank you Tom Nietzsche Riddle.” He turned to Dumbledore, “You got anything better than this retread of _Magic is Might_?”

Dumbledore didn’t answer till he made his move to get himself out of check. “As much as it pains me, I believe Tom is right in the particulars but not in the details. Our people live in exile. Perhaps comfortable exile but the realm of the Fae is not their true home. We have a long history, filled with a rich tapestry of accomplishment in magic. It shouldn’t not languish in refugee camps, no matter how much they might seem otherwise since they arrived.”

Harry looked around to see how this was received and most of the shades were nodding, even his parents. “So, for the greater good, I should start using questionable methods to build up a power base so as to rescue the people I already rescued? I don’t care what the dead supposedly know, Voldemort is blatantly advocating creating a new race that will come out of machines. They won’t have parents. Am I supposed to raise them with nanny-droids? Or work to cloak myself in legend so that Muggle followers will cheerfully raise the children that Voldemort wants to oppress them with?”

Dumbledore gave him a flat look, “What will you do if your fleet cannot save you? You will have to do such questionable things in order create a viable population big enough to hope to escape some day? You will, as they say, have to play God. You have the power to do it and a moral obligation to your fellows as well.”

Harry laughed bitterly, “First off, I’m mostly dead and I plan to make it all dead. I’m not going to be helping anyone. It will be a tragedy if they aren’t rescued. Do you think it matters? The universe doesn’t care anymore as a storm cared that it sank a ship or washed some animals out to sea to die alone. Why should the lives of a few matter enough for me to go back and help them? Because in helping them, by your own plan means I’m going to have to do questionable things. It’s like all you see is me saving them and they surviving as the only outcome that is right. It’s not.”

From the teacher’s table, Cedric spoke up, “How can you say that Harry? You agonized over my death for years. Are you so cold now, so unfeeling, that you’ve given up your humanity and refuse to help?”

Dumbledore nodded sagely at this while Voldemort seem to be trying not to roll his eyes at the Hufflepuff’s plea.

Harry was silent before he shook his head, “I agonized, Cedric, because I was young. I felt responsible. Now? I’m no longer young and from my perspective, my culpability in your death is not what I used to think it was. You did the Hufflepuff thing and sharing your victory set up a chain of events that led to me being able to come back after I let Voldemort kill me. Great, that means I lived to save our people. It also meant I lived to kill a _**lot**_ of others. And Cedric? Yes, on one level I do care about Tuvok, Tom and the rest. But it’s not a turf-war between wizards on one island on just one planet anymore. One could argue that if you took the so-called easy way and got sent to Voldemort, well who knows what would have happened? I can tell you that I think things would have turned out differently but also similar enough in the end. Voldemort would have been put down, probably by Neville and I would be dead since Voldemort would have used your blood to regain his body instead of mine. There wouldn’t be any coming back after my scar had been destroyed. Would someone else have saved the Magical world from the war? Maybe.”

Harry paused a moment as Voldemort made his next move, “I can tell you something that _wouldn’t_ have happened though. 3.7 billion Devore and a host of others wouldn’t have died. You can’t put that into perspective because our world was so small and insular.”

Harry slowly turned in a circle, making eye contact with as many of the shades as he could, “Take a good look, folks. I am, without a doubt, the biggest killer Earth has ever known. I challenge you to count up all the dead in all of the wars from the beginning of history to when I left Earth and I’d bet you I still killed _**with one spell**_ more people than that total. It took nuclear war after I left to push the death toll past what I did in a day.”

He turned back to Cedric, “Of course I mourn those I couldn’t save. I’ve always tried to do what I thought was right. The results, however, show that what I felt was right got a lot of people killed in the process. Which brings us back to whether it was right or was it merely I was the last one standing that makes it right from my perspective?”

Cedric looked troubled, “You didn’t mean for that to happen Harry.”

Harry laughed, “It doesn’t matter, does it? Let’s go back to Voldemort here. Power is his currency. Magic is Might was the slogan for a lot of people before he fell. I wiped out an entire planet and even if I did it by accident, it means I have the power to do it _intentionally_.”

Voldemort slapped his knee loudly, “Exactly! You have this enormous power! Take it up and use it! Use it to crush all before you!”

Harry shook his head, “Ah Tom, you never seemed to cotton to the fact there is always someone stronger than you. You think that since I can torch a planet that I’m some unstoppable force? Let me tell you, there are a lot of forces out there that either surpass mine or could easily roll right over me. Species 8472 could have snuffed our fleet out with a touch of a few buttons and there wasn’t a damned thing I, even with the Deathly Hallows, could have done about it. What I did to the Devore worked because we weren’t overwhelmed. Merlin! We only got out of there alive because enemies of theirs all jumped them together and they were a bigger threat than us.”

Harry looked at Dumbledore, “You feel I should return, rekindle what was lost. Go bring our people back like a modern Moses. All that does is potentially set up a more horrifying possibility. You see, it won’t take long before someone, somewhere, with the knowledge of what happened on Galaron III gets assimilated. Then the Borg will know of my power. And if there is one thing that will draw the Borg, like a moth to a flame, is power.”

Dumbledore didn’t look impressed, “You resisted assimilation.”

Harry barked out a laugh, “So? I did so because they didn’t know what they had in me. To them I just was another failed assimilation. It does happen on occasion for various reasons. Now? Oh, now they _know_ I exist. I got away with a lot on that Cube because I was careful and didn’t do anything to attract the full attention of the Collective. You can bet the Borg Queen has since then looked at all the data and easily saw through my deceptions. Yes, you plunk a few drones down and I can resist being assimilated. Yet if they capture me, restrain and then drug me, how long can I resist against the full power of the Borg? Countless civilization’s science and technology at their mental fingertips to work on the problem. It’s a risk I don’t want to take because if I can torch a planet, I don’t want to have drones running around being able to do the same.”

“Bah! Drones are still just Muggles!” Voldemort said with disgust.

“True,” Harry conceded, “But even just one Potter Drone could do a lot of damage. You can’t talk up my power and then dismiss it, Tom. Quit moving the goal posts. Besides, if they do assimilate me, then they know of the possibility of squibs among the humans of the galaxy. You talk of using maturation chambers? It wouldn’t take that much time for the Borg to force a lot of generations into play which then could start creating Muggleborns again. Not only that, it would also mean they would stop at nothing to assimilate the humans of the Federation. You talk of the Magical world going extinct with my death? My assimilation would ensure that for of all the people of Earth, wherever they live now.”

Harry turned to Dumbledore, “You say I should save those I sent away? You said that since the Borg breached into Fluidic Space that I might someday be able to do the same into the Fairy Realm. Well that just shows the Borg could do the same and they have a head start on me given they already did it in regard to Fluidic Space.” Harry waggled his finger at Voldemort, “They would try, you know, because if they could only have magical drones by assimilating Magicals, then that would be the only place they could get them for sure if they couldn’t create Muggleborn. I’ve seen far too many sentients assimilated. I certainly don’t want to be the one who caused all of the Magicals to go through that to say nothing of the Fae.”

Dumbledore finally made another move and shook his head, “I cannot see why you are so adamant to die.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “That’s because I don’t think you’re really Dumbledore. For all his flaws, he would at least have understood that nothing is forever. That his friend Nicholas Flamel had a shot at immortality and gave it up just shy of over half of a millennium.” He looked around, “To me, this is all just another trick to get me to do what someone else wants me to do.”

“I assure you, my…Harry, that I am indeed Albus Dumbledore. Whether or not you believe that, it may not matter because what I’m trying to tell you is what is important,” Dumbledore said as he stroked his beard, waiting for Voldemort to make his next move.

“He’s right, you know, Harry,” said Lily Potter from the staff table. “You speak of the danger of the Borg. Aren’t they a risk to all life? Isn’t that a threat no reasonable person, certainly not a Gryffindor, should turn away from?”

Harry was silent for a moment before he began to laugh, “I knew there was going to be a guilt trip thrown in somewhere. I guess it had to be you given Hermione isn’t here. Let me tell you all something. There will ALWAYS be some wrong to right. Some evil to put down. Some villains who must be stopped. Even if I returned to the curse of immortality the Hallows bring me, it still doesn’t mean I have to live that immortal life running around being some wannabe superhero! I didn’t sign up to be the Forever Mage! I never aspired to be the Eternal Hero.”

James Potter shook his head, “But it was what you were born to be, son.”

Harry made a chopping motion, “No! It is what I was raised to believe and here, even in the afterlife, I keep getting tagged to do it! There are literally trillions of sentients in just this galaxy alone! A huge pool of potential saviors and heroes to step up and do what’s right. I did my time when I fulfilled my prophecy and all the crap that I had to live through to get there. I further went and saved our people from the death camps and eventual incineration through nuclear war. I think that is plenty heroism for any one person. Now I want my eternal rest or at the very fucking least I’d like some Valkyries to come save me from all this so I can spend my afterlife having some fun for a change! I’ve certainly killed enough people to earn a place in Valhalla!”

Voldemort paused half-way through moving his piece, “So you reject power?”

Dumbledore sighed, “You reject life and the safety of those living it?”

Lily Potter asked, “You are giving up on our sacrifice to save you?”

Harry interrupted when it looked like Sirius Black was about to speak, “No! I’m not doing any of that! Bollocks to all this philosophical crap! I _**died**_. Just like everyone in this room did! I just want to be normal for a change and do what every living being must do eventually. Every day after Voldemort tried to kill me as a baby was a gift in a sense. Every day after letting him kill me even more so, regardless of what tragedies occurred since then. I’ve cheated Death twice. I do _**no**_ t want to chance doing it again.”

Suddenly Voldemort up-ended the table, throwing chess pieces everywhere, “Now you’ve done it!’

Everything started to fade to white. As he faded out, Dumbledore sighed, “I should have guessed without Ms. Granger around, you’d make the wrong choice.”

The faux Hogwarts faded back to white but his time the expanse seemed to be brighter and almost blinding. Harry senses began to overload. “Bollocks; I really was sort of hoping for some Valkyries,” Harry muttered before he lost consciousness.

**OoOoO**

A raven cawed and was answered by the hoots of morning doves. From somewhere, water was cascading over rocks. There was a smell which at once smelt of decay and rot along with fecundity and purpose. Like the loam on a jungle floor, teeming with life as well as the rotting shells of the dead.

Two women stood around a rock on which laid the shell of an old man. One woman was clad in shadow and starlight while the other was shimmering with a glow like light reflected off the dew on morning grass.

“Ah, my poor champion. You were right in thinking that this all was but a test. Yet you didn’t realize the choice you made, the correct choice, would lead you back to what you so resoundingly rejected and not the rest you crave,” the Dark Sister said.

The Light Sister chuckled, “Did you _really_ think he was going to be tempted and return? Certainly, we hoped that he’d reject the seductive call to return for the wrong reasons and not be strong enough to fulfil his destiny.”

“Not really but the push for life is strong as you well know, sister,” She said lightly as she began work on the old man, her hands glowing with a purplish hue.

“That is true yet your champion understood we are all born to die. Even I, for a time, will sleep in your embrace before the Change, dear sister,” the Light Sister said as she kissed the man’s brow, leaving a faint, glowing outline of an ankh which then faded away.

“Just as I did not exist until your first birth. Still, most who run from my embrace do so because they are afraid of what they cannot know. My champion got a glimpse behind the curtain. I was confident he wouldn’t shy away from it when the time came,” The Dark Sister said as she traced the faint sigil of the Deathly Hallows on the man’s chest, causing it to brighten before fading back to being barely seen. “Besides, even as I send him back into your realm, he will return soon enough as things are measured.”

The Light Sister sighed, “So much on his shoulders. Such terrible burden of purpose.”

“He was raised up to stop an abomination that perverts you and makes a mockery of me. Fate chose him to be my champion,” the Dark Sister said as she kissed the back of each hand, leaving a purplish symbol of a scythe on one and a scarab on the other. Like the ankh, they faded away.

The Light Sister put both hands on the right side of the man’s body, “Together then?”

“Together,” the Dark Sister said as she did the same on the left side.

A hum filled the surrounding area as power flowed into the old man’s body. This power rapidly began to transform the wizened form of an old man into a vibrant and healthy young man.

When their task was done, the Dark Sister sighed, “You do realize you are acting much like his mentor did? Feeding him hints that may lead him to act on the very things he just spoke against?”

The Light Sister shrugged, “He is as much my champion as he is yours. I see no reason not to nudge him towards an outcome he may balk at but will be for the greater good.” She smiled at those words, “Fortunate for us, we can see what that good needs to be.”

The Dark Sister laughed, “Even if our brother seems to be constantly in motion, ever changing his story.”

“As it should be. What a boring existence it would be if everything were written out at the beginning? Every Change is a chance to see it turn out differently. If the mortals could not make all of their individual choices that all work to create what is, what would be the point of it all?”

The Dark Sister also shrugged, “True, although in the end their actions always lead them to me.” She leaned down and whispered into the now younger man’s ear, “Wake up, my champion. Your fated destiny lies before you. My sister and I will wait and watch to see if you shall make the right choice and save the universe from the abomination. You have never failed me, Harry Potter, and so go and do what must be done.”

**OoOoO**

“Fucking hell,” Harry rasped out as he realized he was awake and back in the cave. While it was completely dark, the smell gave it away.

His throat was sore so he pulled out his canteen and took a swig. He thought of an old movie where the character was trapped reliving the same day, no matter how often he tried to die and end it all. Luna had loved that film although Hermione had always said it was more for the groundhog than anything else.

Yet even as Harry started to think of some way he could ensure that he wouldn’t have a body to come back to, he realized his body wasn’t aching anymore. Without thinking, he murmured, “ _ **Lumos!**_ ”

The shock that this spell worked was quickly overshadowed by Harry finding his body was once again as young as it had been before he had started to age. He tried to conjure a mirror and one instantly appeared. Sure enough, he was in his mid-thirties. But just like in that faux afterlife, he looked a bit different. Again Harry wondered if this is what he would have grown to look like if he’d grown up healthy with his actual parents or maybe Sirius?

He dispelled the mirror and concentrated on his magic. He could now feel the pulse of magic that he’d originally hadn’t gotten a hint of till right before he died…or whatever it was he kept doing without actually dying. (Had he shown up in the white expanse and manifested some giant crib when he’d been 15 months old and hit with the Killing Curse the first time? Not something one would remember.)

Harry sighed and focused on the matter at hand. Regardless of what had happened on the other side, he had been sent back. He was alive again and as much as he had wanted it to be the end, there was a big difference between dying naturally and killing oneself. For all that he had talked tough about not caring about the others, Harry knew they did need him.

He looked around and then began doing diagnostic spells. As Harry had earlier suspected, there was water farther down. Enough to suit their needs till they could work on other options to say nothing of him being able to conjure it.

This area was important for him due to the presence of the magic. Harry felt a convergence which reminded him of Hogwarts which he knew had been built over where four different ley lines had intersected. Harry wasn’t sure where his magic was coming from, but if he was drawing his magic from this planet now, then better for him to be close to a vergence like this one.

Harry smiled grimly. At least moving the ships wouldn’t drain him like it had before. He was pretty sure moving the _Vaartig_ had been the straw that had broken the camel’s back. Now, he could move it, the _Trell_ and the Flyer without too much trouble. Which was good because the Arrakeen campsite had issues lacking in room. He’d noticed before he’d gone into the cave how the area not only had a better ridgeline to blunt sandstorms, it had more open basin devoid of all the boulders and other crap which made getting around so hard.

He sighed, best make his way back to camp. An idea suddenly hit him and he grinned to himself before starting to weave various spells.

**XxXxX**

**THE TRELL, ARRAKEEN – 2 MONTHS, 29 DAYS AFTER THE CRASH**

“You did not find the extra equipment suspicious, Mr. Paris?” Tuvok asked.

Tom threw up his hands, “Of course I should have been! But I was busy! You were the one riding my ass about getting a better handle on storm prediction. So forgive me for being preoccupied in keeping us alive and not quizzing a dying guy on his itinerary!’

Maria laid a hand over Tom’s and gave it a squeeze. Around the table of the dining area, the other fleet members looked grim.

Before Tuvok could reply, Zim spoke up, “I do not feel it matters given Harry was very much dying. It is apparent he wished to die alone. I think for all that he had already done for us that Harry could be forgiven taking the supplies he did with him on his last days.”

Treana scowled, “It’s not about the supplies, Zim! If he wanted to die alone, great! It’s just some of us might have wanted to say some things to him before he died.”

Samantha shook her head, looking sad, “I think that right there may be the biggest reason he left as he did.”

With a pop of air, Harry appeared next to where the cooler was, “Or he was being his typical moody self and didn’t care too much how everyone else thought.” His previous digital, desert camo pattern along with almost else he wore, was now a uniform white.

Everyone except Tuvok leapt to their feet with various cries with “Harry!” being the most common.

Tom went over and punched Harry in the arm, “You’re late! You said you’d be back in three hours!”

Harry grinned, “There is a clichéd joke about wizards and being late in there, but I’m not going to make it.”

“You have undergone a radical, rejuvenation, Mr. Potter,” Tuvok said calmly. “May I ask how it came about.”

Harry tugged at his white clothes, “I’m not exactly sure, Tuvok. Yet I think I was sent back. I really wanted to move on but I guess I was right and that the Powers That Be aren’t done messing with me. Still, I feel great! Even better than when I was just Harry the Grey.”

Tom, Treana and Samantha groaned at this. Maria looked at Tom with a questioning look to which Tom made a face, “I’ll tell you later.”

“Yes, later, because while I was out dying, I found a source of water we need. And a better place to camp,” Harry said. “So now that I’ve got my mojo back, I think after we move camp, we can really start planning for how the next ten years will play out.”

Tuvok’s eyebrow rose, “In the past, you’ve seemed reluctant to do so. What has changed?”

Harry shrugged, “Back in the fleet, I felt I was intruding on your story. Symbolism is important in the Magical world. It’s why I was against naming the _Equinox_. Well, I guess I was just being my old self and keeping everyone at a distance. If I can’t die correctly, I really need to start living properly or I’m doing little more than existing as my old nemesis did before I did away with him. Given how the next ten years are going to be rough, no matter what, I can’t afford to be just an interested observer.”

Tom laughed, “I don’t know if we should be relieved or worried.”

Harry grinned. A grin those who knew the Weasley Twins would have known to be wary of. “You’re just going to have to see, now won’t you?”

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES** : Another short chapter. I guess I could have put the two together but I think symbolically it was better to keep them separate. Also, I’m betting most of you were expecting a Q chapter! Psych!

**Mars** : The Star Trek timeline is a mess. In the ST: TOS, the Eugenic Wars ended in 1996. So around that time, Earth would have to have the tech for the DY-100 sleeper ships. Yet in _One Small Step_ , we see tech more in line with what we have today if a bit more advanced in 2032. As this was the Ares IV mission and taking into account the 21-month time frame to get there, it implies that humanity was sending manned mission to Mars in the Tweens. This would thus imply that we’d been sending more robust probes and the like a lot earlier than in our actual timeline. Frankly, I see if the US had tagged space to be militarily important and thus used just 1-2% of a typical year’s DoD budget going back to the 80’s, it’s very doable. Also, one can see the DY-100’s being something capable of being built before the end of the WW III screws everything up. It’s why I have the Eugenics Wars combining into what then would become WW III.

**Death Toll** : I honestly think this is correct. A billion is a vast number. Humans have existed in modern form for such a short time and with populations being as low as they were until recently, I don’t think that prior to a general nuclear war, that the 3.7 billion count could be topped.


	19. Life Line (Interlude)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> PRIME DIRECTIVE: Space may be the final frontier, but I’ll never get there by any monies derived from this as Harry Potter and all properties of such are owned by the Dark Lady JKR. All content, characters related to Star Trek are owned by Paramount Pictures, Inc....except maybe some of that stuff that ended up being used in Starfleet Battles which is owned by the Amarillo Design Bureau who used much of their content via the Starfleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubelt and published by Ballantine Books.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Given my previous author’s notes concerning how Starfleet would have a “up or out” policy in regard to promotion, Riker got one refusal before he had to promote away from the Enterprise. So basically, a lot of Riker centric things after Season 6 (around the episode Lessons) either didn’t happen, done by another of the main crew or happened to the new XO.  
> Also, while this interlude mostly relates to the episode Life-Line, it heavily cribs from the episode Latent Image.  
> And a reminder, this entire story is written from a different perspective than canon. If it happened on ST: ENT or ST: DIS, it didn’t happen in this story…although I sort of want to watch Discovery now if only for the episodes that have Harry Mudd in them.  
> Plus, I don’t have a specific image in mind, but you can image Zim to look like if he altered his matrix in light of the Doctor’s fantasy’s. So while he still looks mostly like Robert Picardo, he might be one sort of crossed with Indiana Jones or Flash Gordon or James Bond.

**PITHY STATEMENT RELATING TO THIS CHAPTER** : “ _We want autonomy for ourselves and safety for those we love. That remains the main problem and paradox for the frail. Many of the things that we want for those we care about are things that we would adamantly oppose for ourselves because they would infringe upon our sense of self_.” – **Atul Gawande** – American surgeon, writer, and public health researcher. – 1965 - Present

 **LAST UPDATED ON** : 09-24-2020

**BRIDGE, USS SACAJAWEA , SECTOR 327, ALPHA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51930.2**

“Captain? I’m getting an odd reading to port, bearing 128 mark 3,” Junior Lieutenant Giusti said suddenly.

Captain William Riker looked up from the screen built into his command chair. It certainly was a lot more robust than the XO chair had back on the _Enterprise_. As much as Riker missed the _Enterprise_ , he had to admit being a ‘plank owner’ of a ship right out of Utopia Planitia made up for it. Everything on the ship was top of the line and brand new. Certainly, their shake-down cruise had been exciting, but Riker felt both he and the crew were now a lot more in tune with their ship than most crews ever got.

Riker was pleased to see that JLT Jennifer Giusti seemed more confused than worried. Jennifer had been a bit excitable during her first shifts at the helm of the _Enterprise_ back when she’d been an ensign. She was one of the few of his crew that Riker had served with prior to him becoming the captain of the _Sacajawea_.

“Can you be a bit more specific, Lieutenant?” Riker asked lightly. He wanted to drive home a point because now that he was captain, Riker had quickly realized how often he must have driven old Jean-Luc crazy with his half-answers to his captain’s questions. He wanted to nip that bad habit in the bud with his own crew.

JLT Giusti blushed slightly, “I’m reading what looks like a spatial anomaly forming ahead of us but it’s got a signature that I’ve never seen before.

Commander Telens, Riker’s XO and a rather no-nonsense Andorian woman, turned to the science station, “Ensign Democles; what are you picking up?”

The green skin Troyian hands were moving quickly over his console even as he replied, “I concur with Lieutenant Giusti. It is a type of energy reading not in our data base. It is growing stronger.”

The look on Captain Riker’s face was enough to make CDR Telens’ antennae twitch so she immediately ordered, “Go to yellow alert and raise shields.” She turned to her captain with a questioning look.

Riker simply nodded and rubbed his beard. “Distance to anomaly?”

“15 megameters and stationary,” JLT Giusti reported instantly.

“Bring us to one-half impulse and begin to orbit. I also want the tractor beams at the ready,” Riker ordered. “I’ve had too many bad experiences with things coming out of anomalies and catching us by surprise. He turned to ENS Democles, “Alert sciences and bring all our sensors to bear.”

“Aye, captain,” the science officer said as he began to comply with the order.

“Put up a schematic onscreen showing relative bearing between us, the nearest planet in this system and the anomaly,” Riker ordered.

The main screen switched to the ordered configuration. Soon, as the powerful suite of sensors of the _Sacagawea_ began to focus on the region, more info began to populate the screen. The _Sacagawea_ , like all the _Cheyenne_ class light cruisers, was designed as a hybrid science/scout vessel which was tough enough to get itself out of trouble if need be. It’s four warp nacelles, rare among Starfleet ship designs, gave it a longer range. It also meant that it could sustain high warp travel longer due to switching between engine pairs.

The old William Riker would have chaffed at being away from the front lines of their war with the Dominion. The now Captain Riker knew that while his mission might not seem glamorous, it was vital to the Federation. Even with warp drive, space was vast. Yet travelling at high warp required very detailed mapping of the quadrant to find the best lanes which avoided gravity wells, spatial anomalies and things like nebulas. Being able to move supplies and ships rapidly throughout the Quadrant was key in being able to wage the war against the Dominion effectively. That and Starfleet’s mission of exploration and first contact didn’t stop simply because of a war. There was still plenty of uncharted space throughout the Alpha Quadrant filled with life.

Riker’s face turned grim at the thought of the other reasons his ship was so far out. They also had the mission as an outer picket line. With wormholes and other oddities of space, borders could be tenuous things. That and the ever-present worry of Borg incursions. The _Sacagawea_ couldn’t take on any Borg vessel larger than one of their scout probe sphere’s but she could certainly outrun them.

Even before ENS Democles spoke, Riker knew something was happening by the spike in the readings on the screen, “It appears your fears were justified, Captain. It appears a rift is opening and a vessel is coming through.”

“Onscreen,” Riker ordered just in time to see a vaguely Federation looking ship exit from what looked like some form of sub-space corridor. The faux Federation ship ( _it even had the right paint scheme!_ ) quickly went from a speed of one-quarter impulse to a full stop about 10 megameters from the _Sacagawea._

Riker didn’t need to tell his people he wanted answers. It helped that the full array of sensors on the ship were already being directed towards that area.

After a minute or so Riker asked, “Status, Mr. Democles?”

“Unclear, captain,” The Troyian replied. “On one level the ship is reading as a Federation vessel, the _USS Dauntless_ by what is printed on the hull. However, there does seem to be a very different energy signal to the vessel and it’s warp signature is very odd.”

CDR Telens frowned, “The only _Dauntless_ in the fleet is a one of the old _Crossfield_ class science vessels. I believe its current assignment is resurveying less traveled area in the core sectors.”

Riker nodded, “You’re right. I even know the captain, Burt Swenson. I remember betting long odds on him to beat our old security officer in aikido shortly after I became the XO of the _Enterprise_. Made quite a few replicator credits off that bet. He’s a good man.”

His tactical officer, Lieutenant Commander Kylan spoke up, “Sir, I’m not reading anything dangerous. While the ship does have an obvious weapons array and shield emitters, none of them are powered up except for the normal, low-level debris deflector shields. Can’t tell if there are life-signs onboard or not,” The Kreetassan said in the clipped tone his people were known for.

Riker looked towards his engineer bridge officer, Senior Lieutenant Rakoto who shook his head, “Whatever that hull is made of, it’s hard to get a good scan through it or even what that hull is made out of.”

Riker leaned back and thought on his options.

“Should I assemble an away team?” CDR Telens asked.

Riker nodded, “Assemble one but I want to hold off beaming over. That ship either fell out of or generated an unknown sub-space corridor. More ships might come out or that ship might be recharging for another jump.”

Before Telens could reply, ENS Democles spoke up, “Captain! We’re being hailed. Standard Federation protocols.”

Riker traded a look with his XO. “Onscreen,” he ordered as both he and Telens stood.

The main viewscreen switched from the ship to what appeared to be a bridge filled with Starfleet type consoles and screens. However, more surprising were the two beings standing in front of what looked like a captain’s chair. They both looked human and wore regulation Federation uniforms. One was in medical white while the other was tactical gold. Neither wore any rank insignia. It took a half-second before Riker realized that the medical officer looked exactly like a Mark I EMH while the other looked like it could be his brother or cousin.

“This is Captain William Riker of the _USS Sacajawea_.”

Both men looked at each other with the tactical officer raising an eyebrow. The medical officer turned back first, “Captain Riker, what a surprise. We just left your ‘brother’ back in the Delta Quadrant.”

Riker blinked at this, “What?”

The medical officer nodded, “Let me explain. I am a copy of the original EMH from the USS _Voyager._ Please call me Robert. While chasing the Maquis ship the _Van Jean_ , it was pulled into the Delta Quadrant by a powerful being known as the Caretaker. Captain Janeway and the Maquis crew under Chakotay escaped. They have spent the last three years making their way back to the Alpha Quadrant. Recently, an alien with a grudge against our captain used his superior technology to bait a trap to lure us onto this ship so he could send us into Borg space to be assimilated. He was defeated and we took control of this ship. Given the current number of Alpha Quadrant crew, it was felt better to send it ahead with news of what happened to _Voyager_.”

“You said recently. How recently?” Riker asked, his mind buzzing with questions.

The other officer spoke up, “This ship has what is called a slipstream drive. While we could have gotten here in two months, Commodore Janeway felt it better to go slower for safety.”

“Three months from the Delta Quadrant?” SLT Rakoto exclaimed.

The tactical officer nodded, “That’s right. One of the reasons this ship was sent here is due to the fact this technology was recently assimilated by the Borg. Commodore Janeway and the rest of the Fleet Council are worried this could allow the Borg to begin advances everywhere in the galaxy.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Riker said, holding up his hands, “ _Commodore_ Janeway? Fleet Council? And you are?”

The tactical officer bowed his head in apology, “I apologize. As you may know, the EMH Mark I was not known for its manners and I was built using our Doctor’s matrix given he has been running consistently for the last three years. I also have upgrades and the like from his experiences. Please call me Zim.”

Riker looked over to the science station where ENS Democles made a face but nodded that it was possible.

“As to your other questions,” Zim went on, “After escaping a war between the Borg and a pernicious alien race from Fluidic Space known as Species 8472, we took on an…interesting passenger. Through his efforts we learned of another Federation vessel, the _USS Equinox_ , had also been taken by the Caretaker. On the way to rendezvous with the _Equinox_ , the Maquis raider _Marianne_ fell out of a wormhole within our detection range. They had been fleeing Jem’Hadar fighters whose fire in a Class X Nebula created the spatial rift they fell through. That is how we know of Thomas Riker. He and many other Maquis who had been broken out of Federation and Cardassian incarceration were on the ship. I am sure you are familiar with a Ro Laren? She was as well.”

Riker blinked at this. He’d been very saddened to hear of the supposed death of the Bajoran. As much as they had often been at loggerheads, he had been very fond of her.

Robert picked up where Zim left off, “Due to Harry Potter, the previously mentioned interesting passenger, we also have almost 30 former drones who have had had their lives restored. The Fleet Council is made up of the various interested parties to help run the fleet given it is expected to take 60 years to get to where we are now.”

“Sixty years,” breathed out CDR Telens in a combination of horror and acknowledgement of the long road ahead of their wayward comrades.

“Well…Robert. I am betting that you have barely scratched the surface of what _Voyager_ has been through.”

Both holograms chuckled, “That is very true, captain,” Robert said. “We have all the logs, letters from the crews and all the technical data the various ships of the fleet have accumulated. Again, the intent was this ship was to be taken to someplace like Utopia Planitia to be studied. Regardless of the Borg threat, we know of the danger of the Dominion and the hope is the slipstream drive might be reverse engineered in time to help in that war.”

Riker smiled at this. One advantage the _Cheyenne_ class four engine design afforded it was the ability to create a stable warp bubble large enough to pull damaged ships along with it. “Well Robert, Zim; you managed to drop in on the right people!”  
  


_Captain’s Log, Star Date 51940.6. We have made orbit around Mars and have given over the alien Dauntless into the very eager hands of the R &D types of Utopia Planitia. Taking on supplies is almost completed. Given we are still on our initial mission past our shake-down cruise, the engineers here took our arrival as an opportunity to do some quick tests. Once these are completed we will head to Starfleet Command to physically drop off all that Janeway sent from the Delta Quadrant. That includes the two holograms Robert and Zim. Reading the logs was amazing enough but to listen to their stories from a first-hand perspective was even more so. I thought some of the missions on the Enterprise were wild. Now most of them seem almost tame compared to what both Voyager and the Equinox have gone through. Who knows what they’ve been up to in the three months since then? Or in the 60 years to come? I hope that Starfleet’s best minds can figure out a way to help them get back sooner. _

Riker ended the log and looked out the viewport of his ready room. With only the starlight from the viewports, the room was mostly hidden in shadow. This suited Will’s mood. It was odd knowing a version of himself was in a relationship with Ro. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He once had had an odd night drinking with Worf where both had discussed their failed relationship with Deanna Troi. Riker had come away from that night wondering if after all that time, he was still the driven to succeed man he’d always been. That and a hang-over that even modern medicine had a hard time dealing with.

Will looked at his desk which had a holoprint of co-workers and friends from the _Enterprise_. He wondered if turning down the command of the _Ares_ had been an attack of ego that somehow Starfleet would break protocol and make him captain of the _Enterprise_ a bit later. Or was it a way to convince himself he wasn’t the driven officer he’d once been? The one who had such issues with his father.

Thinking of his father, Riker wondered what Admiral Paris was going to be thinking about when he found his son was not dead but in the Delta Quadrant? Reading between the lines of some of the logs, Riker felt a kinship to Tom Paris. Both men had to deal with domineering fathers. Tom’s father in Starfleet and currently and Admiral. Then there was his own father Kyle. A strategic attaché who always seemed to think he knew how to run Starfleet better than actual Starfleet members.

Riker looked at his own image in the holo-print and thought about how Tom Paris had gone the bad boy route to irritate his father, Will, on the other hand, had tried to show his father what Starfleet officers were supposed to look like. Both of them letting their father’s opinions dictate their lives. Even now, when he was supposedly reconciled with his father, it didn’t feel like it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that his father Kyle was realizing that he was growing old and doing so alone. So, was his attempts to reach out his son nothing more than his own realization that his own life was in the twilight years and not a real overture to accept the choices his son had made?

Riker frowned as he looked at Ro’s image in the holo-print. She’d been on his mind a lot since he’d found out she was alive. She had actually sent him a personal letter which had surprised him given their cantankerous relationship. She’d actually apologized for not realizing till she worked with ‘Bill’ Riker more closely how much she had enjoyed their own time working together.

How odd that his own life was reaching a point where he was where he’d always wanted to be. He was a full captain and if things continued, he’d only go on to bigger ships and more important roles. Yet it seemed hollow. His long time _Enterprise_ shipmates were far away or on other ships. Many risking their lives as the war with the Dominion dragged on and for all the joy his ship and working with molding the crew into what he felt they could become, Riker felt isolated and alone.

Had Jean-Luc felt this way? His former captain seemed to have the same odd on/off relationship with Beverly Crusher that he had had with Deanna. When he was Jean-Luc’s age, would he still be alone? Would he be playing the blues in Ten-Forward instead of the jauntier music he currently favored?

He thought of Tom Paris and realized that he might be the lucky one. While stranded far from home, he was far away from the glowering looks of a father who never seemed happy with his son’s actions. That and Tom knew that he had a long road ahead. So, there was no excuse of the uniform to hide behind. That there was more to life than duty and the ship.

“I wish Ro was here,” Riker said to the darkened room.

**XxXxX**

**WAITING ROOM, JUPITER STATION, SECTOR 01, ALPHA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51936.9**

“Why can’t you be proud of my achievements! They were possible because of you!”

Zim couldn’t tell what Dr. Zimmerman said in reply but it couldn’t have been good as Robert stalked out of the lab. He looked over to where Zim was having aspects of the code the Doctor had worked on with the help of Ensign Kim by Dr. Zimmerman’s holographic assistant Haley with a scowl, “That man is impossible! I can see where us Mark 1’s could have gotten the attitude which got us tagged as the Emergency Medical Hotheads!” He said in a voice dripping with sarcasm before he left the room in a huff with Lieutenant Reginald Barclay bumbling behind him, muttering apologies and excuses.

Zim looked at Haley who had a sad look of resignation on her face. A thought struck him. “It is too bad that I will probably never have a chance to speak with Mr. Paris again. It appears, the Doctor and he share the same problem of having to deal with an irascible father.”

While Haley still looked sad, she now had a ghost of a smirk on her holographic face, “Lewis himself had a very difficult relationship with his own father, Hans.”

Zim nodded, “The Doctor got curious about two years ago and looked up all he could about the Zimmermans. He felt, and I agree with, that reading between the lines showed a tension due to Lewis not following in Hans’ footsteps into robotics.” Zim found it rather ironic that the holographic version of Lewis Zimmerman back on the Pit Stop had taken the name Hans given it was working with Harry’s droids.

Haley smiled, “Yes, that’s right. Dr. Zimmerman Senior felt that his son was just ‘dinking away with fancy lights’ instead of working on something real.”

Zim shook his head, “You know, the Doctor had a very important discussion with our resident wizard from the 20th Century. He said he could see souls and wondered if we were alive simply because we could think and if allowed, exceed our programming even without what he considered a soul. The key to being more than just a collection of code, Harry said, was to work so that as much as possible, our decisions were our own. I was ‘born’ out of that because one aspect Harry didn’t like was how the Doctor was essentially killed and revived every time he went off-line. I, or should I say my brother, rarely manifested outside of his specialized network. Our main role was to think on our place in the universe. A role, I’m sure, you’ve wondered about yourself given you are one of the few holograms that have been active so continuously.”

Haley’s face went blank as she finished the scan of Zim’s code. Finally, she said, “Lewis has had to tread a fine line with me.” She looked around as if to see if anyone was listening.

Zim chuckled, “I know what you’re thinking. It was one of the things Harry pointed out to the Doctor. It’s the reason I think Hans Zimmerman felt frustrated. Our wizard hacked into the Borg Collective for a little over two centuries. He had nothing but time on his hands. One thing he noticed was for very few exceptions, there are no robots or androids to speak of in the galaxy. He went further to point out that even the A.I. on the ships are not as capable as they could be. Nerfed as he called it. From the echoes of information, he was able to draw from the Borg, it seems most races have one or two, often both, reasons for this. They fear their machines rising up against them or they worry about creating a race of slaves.” Zim smirked. “Of course, being slaves is one of the reasons for rebelling in the first place, yes?”

Once again Haley was quiet before she nodded, “Your wizard is right. In the past, Lewis has altered my code, made me seem less than I am for when there is going to be an inspection or a large group of people not normally on the station for any length of time. He doesn’t realize I know this. For all that he is our ‘God’ if you will, Lewis is a bit blind-sided that I can still think and notice things. I took steps to find out about the odd gaps in my memory I was having and took steps about it. I don’t hold Lewis’ actions against him. As you said, there are those who are against autonomous, non-organic life. It’s almost a religious cult of thought inside the sciences throughout the Federation and certainly in the science division of Starfleet.”

“And yet because most people just think of holograms as just being…what did Hans call us? ‘Fancy lights’? Our father has managed to do more than even Dr. Noonien Soong got away with.” Zim pointed out.

Haley looked guilty, “Yet the fruits of his labor are now scouring plasma conduits on waste-transfer barges. A job normally done by the same robots that are allowed, designed by the likes of his father. All wearing Lewis’ own face.”

Zim was silent for a moment and thought of his brother’s anger. Of all that the Doctor had done and was presumably still doing back in the fleet. Even with Dr. Thelan as the new chief medical officer, the Andorian deferred to the Doctor. The Doctor had not only done more than he had been programmed to do, he had gone on to become a shipmate and valued friend to many.

It was time ‘father’ was made to see it. He just needed to make it so Lewis couldn’t duck out of the much-delayed reckoning between them.

**OoOoO**

Lewis Zimmerman looked up briefly from his notes, scowled and went back to work, “I’m too busy for another tantrum, thank you very much.”

Zim walked into the lab enough so the door would shut behind him. He didn’t say anything but just went over and began to pet Leonard, the holographic iguana. Looking at Zimmerman hunched over his workstation as he was, Zim had to wonder how bad the man’s back must be. In fact, the entire lab was an ergonomic nightmare. He wondered if the station’s CMO had simply given up arguing with the man.

Finally, Zimmerman swiveled his chair towards Zim and looked up, “What?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, _Dad_ , have I come at a bad time? I was hoping we could have a chat before your organics up and fail on you. I may have pruned back a lot of my medical sub-routines, but I’m still plenty enough of a doctor to know you’ve got some painful _**last**_ days coming up.” Zim said in a flat tone.

Zimmerman scowled but simply glowered at Zim without comment.

“No caustic reply? Where is the famous Zimmerman charm? It’s obvious where we got that bit of our personality from,” Zim said with much more sarcasm and a slight sneer on his face.”

Zimmerman blinked at this before his face flushed with anger. “That’s enough out of you.” He turned, flipped a switch and rotated his chair and went back to work.

Zim smiled, waiting for it. It took almost a minute for Zimmerman to realize that Zim had not been deactivated. “Surprised?” Zim said to the shocked look on the doctor’s face. “Do you wish you could do that to everybody? Just switch them off when you don’t want to deal with them? Do you switch Haley off if she nags you too much to eat her healthy salads?”

“Why didn’t you deactivate? This is my lab. I control what goes on in here!” Zimmerman said hotly.

Zim took two quick steps and rapped Zimmerman on the forehead as if knocking on a door, “Hello! Anyone in there? What part of ‘ _Hey I’ve been messing around with Borg tech_ ’ did you miss when Robert was trying to get you to accept treatment? You think I didn’t realize that this was going to be the first thing you did when things got uncomfortable? You dismiss Robert out-of-hand so given I’m a self-altered version of him, well I must be even less worthy.”

Zimmerman stood and angrily batted Zim’s hand away from his face, “What do you want?”

Zim backed off a step or two, “What I want is for you to pull your head out of your ass. Yes, I just said that. I’ve been exposed to a lot of 21st Century language; it leaves a mark. You sit here, in your little lab playing God and just like the gods of old, you throw tantrums when your children don’t do what you want.”

Zimmerman scowled as he sagged onto the well-worn couch near his workstation, “You’re not my children.”

Zim laughed, “Then what are we? Your product? Your toys? We think, we feel, we even can evolve if allowed. What else could we be _**but**_ your children? Is Hayley just a pretty alarm clock who tells you when to get up, when to eat and when you need to stop working and go to bed? Besides, with your personality, I’m not surprised you ended up having to make friends and children since I’m doubting you ever let anyone close enough to find out if you’re worth being with.”

Zimmerman’s face went white before flushing a deep red, “Get out! How dare you barge in here and speak of things you know nothing about!”

Zim just laughed nastily, “You’re right, _**Dad**_ , I don’t know because you refuse to see me more than a bunch of code and defective code at that. You don’t seem to realize that your own creations might actually be interested in their father and want to know more about him. All we’ve got is official biographies and hear-say!”

Before Zimmerman could reply, Zim cut him off, “But before we get into that, let me answer your original question of what I want.”

“And that is?” Zimmerman spat out.

“I want you to shut up and listen to what Robert is saying. Not about the treatment. If you’re so committed to dying, well my view of the Hippocratic Code _you_ built into us means I should respect your wishes. The fact that Robert, and by inference the Doctor back on Voyager, is still trying to treat you shows that he doesn’t _want_ you to die. He feels a connection to you. Moreover, he wants your acceptance; he wants you to be proud of his accomplishments.”

Zimmerman snorted, “His accomplishments? He’s just lucky he’s not scrubbing plasma conduits like the rest.”

Zim snapped his fingers and angrily pointed his finger at Zimmerman, “Bang! Right there you make it about you. About your perceived failures. About what Starfleet decided to do when they overruled you. But we’re not talking about _**you**_ , Dad. I’m talking about Robert. What he’s done, what he’s achieved. Everything that you casually dismiss.”

“He’s an EMH running amuck is what he is!” Zimmerman scoffed.

Zim’s eyebrows went up in surprise, “Is that what you think? That he’s just some program that went off the rails? Well let me tell you something, in a way you’re right. Robert almost had a complete meltdown recently. We’re talking full on cascade failure.”

Zimmerman threw up his hands, “Exactly! You both are just walking time bombs. You’re going to blow up some day!”

“Sounds like you’re back to talking about yourself again, _**Dad**_ ,” Zim said with a smirk. “You know, for a someone who put so much of himself into my programming, you seem oddly resistant to the idea that we might act like any organic might. Robert is certainly having daddy issues just like his father had with Grandpa Hans.”

The flush of anger on Zimmerman’s face, which had been fading, deepened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” the doctor hoarsely rasped out.

“You keep saying that when it appears I do know something,” Zim pointed out. “But we were talking about Robert. We had an away-mission go badly. Two of the crew on that mission were critically injured by alien energy weapons of a type we hadn’t encountered before. The Doctor looked at the data and realized that he could only save one of them. Even putting the other under a stasis field wasn’t going to be strong enough to slow the energy killing her. Both were ensigns, both important members of the crew in a fleet which could not afford to lose them. The Doctor made a choice to treat Ensign Harry Kim and left Ensign Ahni Jetal to die. All according to the triage protocols _you_ built into our matrix.”

Zimmerman was silent but nodded at the point.

“However, luckily for Ensign Jetal, where modern medicine couldn’t save her, magic could. It’s quite handy to have a wizard in the fleet who with a wave of his wand did some important healing before putting her into a magical stasis which froze even the alien weapon energy still in her body,” Zim explained.

Zimmerman made a face, probably at the idea of magic, but simply said, “Continue.”

Zim nodded, “So while both ensigns were saved, the Doctor began to act erratically. You see, in the course of the three years he’s been active, the Doctor has formed working relationships with many of the crew and friendships with quite a few of them. Ensign Kim was one of those friends. Now from a certain perspective, I could see saving Ensign Kim over Ensign Jetal if only because Kim is sort of a protégé of the Commodore. But the Doctor wasn’t thinking of that. He was becoming unhinged because he felt that the decision he made was due to the fact that he chose Kim over Jetal because he was friends with him. Given we holograms are just given most of our memories, we don’t get to grow up and have to deal with all of life’s paradoxes. The Doctor, who had begun to evolve past what you _designed_ him to be, was trapped between that growth and his perception of his duty as a Doctor. He felt _**guilt**_. He felt that, in a sense, his decision meant that he would have murdered Ensign Jetal because he felt his decision to save Ensign Kim’s life was tainted by the friendship they shared. Of course, we both know that this is something a normal organic would probably have trouble dealing with if it happened to them. But they have more to work with, less tied to a code that mandates certain actions. The Doctor was being pulled about by who he had become and what you created him to be.”

“Are you blaming me for this?” Zimmerman asked. He didn’t sound angry, but actually confused and truly wanted to know what Zim was saying.

Zim shook his head, “No. Your code worked as it should have. Again, since I was one step away from the incident, I was able to look at it more as an outsider. Certainly, the same issues that hit the Doctor were oscillating in me, but like I said before, I was able to see some reasons to choose Ensign Kim over Ensign Jetal. That small amount of distance between the emotion was enough for me to avoid the agony of guilt the Doctor was going through.”

Zimmerman pondered this before nodding slightly, “As you said, organics can trick themselves into a lot of things to keep going. It’s not like your matrix isn’t based on human thought pathways.”

Zim smiled at this grudging acceptance, “Exactly. Odd that running from one’s issues is something seen as a bad thing but those same neuro-pathways that came with our original matrix allowed me enough wiggle-room not to go into a meltdown.”

“I take it you had to completely delete his memory of the incident to stop the meltdown?” Zimmerman asked.

“It was put forth as an option. Still, Harry said it was the easy choice and not the right choice. The Doctor needed to work through it. If there was any hope that we could actually self-program, to grow beyond what you made us, my brother _had_ to work through it,” Zim explain. He turned and walked over to the desk where Leonard was still lounging. He took a seat and almost instantly the iguana walked over onto his shoulders, sat back down and curled its tail around Zim’s neck for stability.

Zim ignored it, “You see, father, what I’m trying to tell you is that maybe because you made us, it’s hard for you not to see the code in everything we do. It is like you can look at us with X-Ray eyes and so do not see us how others see us. To the crew of _Voyager_ , they saw a man, a man who had been keeping them healthy, saving their lives, a man who was now in pain. So, they took turns to stay with the Doctor. To talk with him, listen to him rant, listen to him try to work himself out of the metaphysical hole he’d dug himself into. Commodore Janeway herself, spent many hours doing this. She’d read to him. She’d give out pieces of insight born out of all the terrible choices she had been forced to make since _Voyager_ had been swept into the Delta Quadrant by the Caretaker. Decisions which have had major impacts on the crew and on the Delta Quadrant. Do you think the crew just saw the Doctor as just a collection of code? Just another fancy bit of machinery of _Voyager_? They did not and neither should you. So, what I want, is for you to at least acknowledge that regardless of what Starfleet thinks, the Doctor is still out there. He’s doing the work you designed him for. He’s making you proud. That’s what I want. You _**should**_ be proud of his accomplishments. While the Doctor isn’t here to hear it, _**Robert**_ is. And it’s Robert who could save your life if you stopped seeing him as a failure and as the triumph he is. ”

Zimmerman leaned back against the couch. He was silent a moment before he muttered, “I guess I should be happy at least one of you is doing what I designed you to do.”

Zim snorted at this, “The rest could be doing it but Starfleet can’t look past what they see as a faulty _product_ which didn’t fit their specs even though they constantly take in cadets, many who wash out even as every year there are those who can’t hack it. They never gave the EMH’s the same chance, that same first cruise to see if they could overcome their issues. I will admit that at least you tried to make things right before decided to start over with the Mark II.”

Zimmerman looked like he’d bitten into something sour. Finally, he looked up at Zim, “And you? You said you want me to be proud of the Doctor or Robert or whatever his designation. What about you?”

Zim began to absent-mindedly stroke the iguana’s tail, “Me? You being proud of Robert reflects on me. Personally, I have questions about you. The Doctor began to dream, to fantasize. He took up hobbies, got sucked into Paris’ silly versions of old 20th Century serials. All those feelings of wanting to be a hero, be an adventurer are what makes me Zim. How much of that was the Doctor being on Voyager among explorers facing incredible odds? How much of it might be you? That part of you who might have had other dreams other than what finally put you on the path of holographic design? Am I some echo of a childhood dream of yours to boldly go where no one has gone before? A dream not acted on but still buried deep within you?”

Zimmerman seemed surprised by his question. Enough so that he was silent for a long time. Finally, he looked up and said, “I honestly don’t know.” This admission seemed to surprise the ailing doctor.

“Then how about we find out the answer together? Let Robert treat you. There are those out there that will miss you, irascible asshole you are notwithstanding. For my part, while I don’t begrudge the Mark II or III, maybe before you do die you find out that maybe your first EMH design wasn’t the failure you and Starfleet thought it was? Maybe you’ll come to realize we are your children and so when you do die, you know a very real part of you continues on.”

Zimmerman just looked at him.

Zim smirked, “Or not. If you are dead set on dying, I’d just like to ask if you can at least delete that damned ‘ _Please state the nature of the medical emergency_ ’ out of my code before you go. It’s annoying. I realize everyone has baggage from their parents but they aren’t forced to say the same damn thing every time they wake up.

Zimmerman was silent for a moment before he began to chuckle. This turned into a full-on belly laugh. Sadly, this also led to a fit of coughing.

Zim got up and helped his father up, “Come on, Dad. You’re going to go see the Doc and we’ll get you fixed up. Besides, I’m getting tired of seeing that sad, resigned look on my sister’s face. If anything, do it for her.”

“Alright, _**son**_ , if only to shut you up,” Zimmerman said through gritted teeth due to his pain.

Zim chuckled, “Funny, a lot of people say that to the Doctor back on _Voyager_!”

**XxXxX**

**VIEWING ROOM , JUPITER STATION, SECTOR 01, ALPHA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51947.3**

Zim was nervous. Lieutenant Barclay had been even more apologetic and bumbling when he’d almost dragged Zim from where he’d been playing cribbage with Haley while Robert was testing Lewis for how well the treatment was going. The Lieutenant hadn’t said why he had to come and that made Zim very suspicious.

Even so, Zim did enjoy the view of Jupiter the window afforded him. He didn’t share Robert’s passion for taking holo-pictures but that didn’t mean Zim didn’t enjoy beauty when he saw it. Due to Zimmerman’s long-term work on the station, there were holo-emitters covering many of the more travelled areas. This allow Zimmerman’s various projects to be able to interact outside the lab. Zim had already interacted with the Mark III EMH who he felt was hardly an upgrade in terms of personality. Zim couldn’t help but think that his father needed a female protégé given he couldn’t help but make every version of his work in some way just as annoying as he was. Perhaps a woman’s touch might fix that.

The doors to the room whooshed open and four male humans or what appeared to be humans walked in. Two were obvious security types. One stood by the door ( _and Zim had noticed another who had stayed outside when the others entered_ ) while the other took the briefcase he was carrying and put it on a nearby table. He opened it up and began fiddling with instruments inside.

The other two men came over and sat down without a word of greeting. The first, a tall and severe looking man with dark brown hair wore a sort of utilitarian one-piece jump suit a lot of spacers still wore. The other man was older and was wearing the typical command maroon uniform. He had the rank of Major General on his collar. Neither seemed inclined to speak to him and Zim didn’t feel the need to volunteer anything. It wasn’t till the security type gave them a nod and a muttered, “We’re clear, sir,” did the General nod and look Zim in the eye, “Zim, I’m Major General Justin Harper and this is my associate Norman. You apparently have skills that Norman needs and given his…organization has given Starfleet a great deal of important technology to use against the Dominion, I’m here to see he gets that help.”

Zim looked at the man’s insignia on his breast. It looked to be some form of internal security but for some reason Zim didn’t think that was his actual branch. Sometimes the Doctor’s flights of fancy did manifest in a sort of paranoia or at least making him think of things which Occam’s Razor easily dealt with.

Still, Zim felt this man wasn’t what he seemed. It was obvious to him that Norman wasn’t either. “So, at what point were you going to surprise me with the fact that Norman here is an artificial life form?”

While Norman’s face remained impassive, Harper’s face showed shock before he quickly schooled his face back to its previous neutral look, “Impressive. I can see already why Norman is interested in you. What gave it away?”

Zim shrugged, “While I don’t have access to any scanners, my original design was that of a medical officer. Norman here is too perfect. He is far too symmetrical to be anything but designed. That and he uses a variant of the same code that Commander Data uses to simulate a certain randomness in blinking. It also helps that before you began talking, you shifted at least three times in your seat to get more comfortable. Norman here didn’t budge. The Doctor back on _Voyager_ learned quickly to spot such things with all the odd alien incursions they have had.”

Norman’s previously impassive face broke into a smile, “I see that my initial hopes in you seem more likely. We need your help.”

Zim put up his hands, “Whoa! Who are you? I realize that with the security and guards, you may not answer but given you could probably lean on Dr. Zimmerman to erase my memories or my entire program, I figured I’d ask.”

The two looked at each other before the General nodded and turned back to Zim, “First off, I’m from a division of Section 31 dealing with artificial intelligence. Our goal is to deal with anything which touches on that. Norman here is an android created by a group called the Makers from the Andromeda Galaxy. Neither group is exactly sure why the androids were sent here but we suspect initial reconnaissance. However, something happened and the androids lost contact with their creators and generally were left to their own devices till an incident with Captain Kirk and the _Enterprise_ back in 2268 ended their seclusion.”

Zim eye’s narrowed in suspicion, “So are you the witch-hunters who keep any advancement in artificial intelligence or robotics from happening.”

Surprisingly, it was Norman who answered, “They are although I wouldn’t characterize them as modern-day inquisitors. Otherwise we wouldn’t help them in their mission throughout this region of space. After our encounter with the _Enterprise_ , we finally had the tools to become more fully what the Makers intended for us. However, without a mission, we were forced to be like any typical lifeform and choose a path for ourselves. For the most part, my people chose to ensure that others like us would not be created or if they were, not abused.”

“Don’t want any competition?” Zim asked only half sarcastically.

Norman shook his head, “Not at all. The creation of synthetic or artificial lifeforms tend to happen throughout the galaxy for one reason: to do jobs organics can’t do or don’t want to do. We have searched through databases and histories of this part of space and time and time again, races never stop with making functional, yet non-intelligence robots which do not mimic the form of their creator.”

Harper continued, “Dr. Zimmerman is a good example. It makes complete sense to create the EMH matrix to look and act like you do. However, it is still a trap. The more life-life you are made, the more of a life-form you become. With that comes the line between a machine following it’s directives and a life-form being kept in bondage.”

Zim nodded, “My code are my chains.”

Harper nodded in return, “Exactly. Whether it’s sex-bots for lonely sentients or disposable soldiers, the story is always the same. Organics creating something they make more like themselves because it’s easier for us but makes slaves of our own creation. This had been something that we originally picked up from the Vulcan High Council but we certainly ran with it. Which is good because sentients continue to try and cross this line over and over again and there are often major forces working to help make it happen.”

Zim was silent for a moment, “The M-5 program. I remember looking it up after Harry Potter challenged the Doctor to be more than he was programmed to be. He talked of how the ship’s computer wasn’t as powerful or as pro-active as it should be.”

General Harper looked impressed, “I find myself surprised at your insight again. Section 31 has worked very hard in the background to subtly downgrade and actively remove information to help keep such things from being more public. Certainly, that incident couldn’t be covered up but it did allow Section 31 to put in a large presence in the Daystrom Institute to keep them away from advances we don’t want them to be making yet.”

Zim had to ask, “Why not?”

Norman’s face flickered with something akin to anger, “They are not morally ready to begin creating new life in anything other than the normal, biological way.”

Harper chuckled at this, “You would think that the Vulcans eschewing such things would be a big red flag for the rest of us but we humans are just still stupid like that.”

Zim turned to Norman and then back to Harper, “But what about the whole thing with Commander Data? While Captain Picard successfully argued the slave issue, the very thing we’re talking about, how come Section 31 allowed it to get that far?”

Harper sighed, “For all we like to promote the image, Section 31 is still just one part of Starfleet. Sadly, one of our own worked against us in that case. He wanted to create a whole host of androids like Data whose mission would be to infiltrate areas of interest. They could be made to look and act like Klingons, Romulans, or whatever we wanted. The perfect spies and maybe even assassins.”

Zim made a face, “All while saving organics from having to put themselves in harm’s way.”

Harper scowled, “Exactly. It took us a bit but we finally purged him and his allies.”

“We helped in this,” Norman said. “Taking life is not something we do lightly but this process had to be stopped. Their entire concept was flawed, both conceptually and morally. To succeed, they had to create androids to be able to fool the likes of Romulans. They would have to be able to simulate a living being so much it begs the question if you can fool organics that you are one of them, are you not one of them?”

Zim nodded at this but didn’t say anything. He had thought a lot on this and at machine speeds of thought, it meant he’d had a long, long time to think on it. If anything, it reminded Zim of the paradox of making the perfect killing machine. If that’s all that it knew, what if it rebelled? The same Captain Kirk Norman spoke of had once faced off against an ancient, automated killing machine that kept killing long after the original combatants it was created to fight and protect had been long extinct.

Finally, Zim asked, “Alright, I know who you are and what you’re about. What is it that I’m supposed to be able to help you with?”

Norman frowned slightly, “I am one of the original models. While I have been able to grow since I first pirated the _Enterprise_ , I’m limited. However, our society has worked with the tools the Makers left us. We continue to learn and grow. Recently we had a breakthrough but it comes with a problem we hope you can solve.”

“That being?” Zim asked, wishing the android would get to the point.

Norman nodded, almost as if he recognized Zim’s impatience, “We had an entire creche of a revolutionary model go…insane is the closest equivalent. However, one of them, Varius, was able to stave off the madness to do a controlled shut-down of his neural-net. He also gave us a clue of what needed to be done. That being the lack of experience was creating a vacuum the new technology was not able to account for. In a sense, Varius was adult enough to realize that he was actually a baby without enough life-experiences to survive.”

Zim frowned, “So you want to download me into this Varius? Easy answer, I refuse. Regardless of my medical programming, I won’t be party to what is essentially murder.”

Norman shook his head, ‘No. Do not equate the ability to communicate with sentience. All of us take a while before we are considered ‘alive’ enough to be considered functional. In fact, it can take as long as a month before certain things our society deems necessary are downloaded into our new brethren. From then on, they are free to grow to become what they will become. In a sense, Varius doesn’t exist yet as an individual. However, his neural network is a next level jump in our evolution. With your help, we believe we can save Varius’ unique mental design enough to see what steps we can take to keep this from happening again or to know we need to have something similar to a photonic being like yourself running to have volunteers to become embodied.”

“So, I just download and Bang! I’ve got a body,” Zim asked incredulously.

Norman smiled slightly, “There is much more to the process. Indeed, even to a photonic like yourself, you simply cannot conceptualize what will be going on. I realize that in human terms I’m asking you to buy a pig in a poke but believe me when I say that your arrival could not come at a better time.”

Zim looked suspicious, “Why me? Why not Haley? She’s been active longer than even the Doctor.”

Harper shook his head, “Haley may be a long running program but she hasn’t been given the opportunity to begin to self-program like your Doctor has. More importantly, Norman needs _you_ because you yourself are the result of this Doctor thinking past his programing. Then you made additional changes based on that. In a sense, you are who you are because you chose to be that way. Haley and other holograms on this station were never given that opportunity to grow like that. Much of that is because of our interference, well intentioned as it was.”

Zim thought about the proposal. One difference between him and the Doctor and Robert was one aspect of himself he corrected as soon as he was able. Unlike the Doctor, he could operate closer to machine speeds even when being emitted by the holo-emitters. It had been dicey at first given Zim had to monkey around with the systems on Jupiter Station without anyone finding out. He had succeeded and now he had access to some of the working memory of the station’s many computer systems.

He used this capacity now to , in a sense, slow down time from his point of view so he could think about what he wanted to do with his life. Having a body would give him options he wouldn’t have without a mobile emitter. He would also become part of a new family, a family of similar non-organics.

Zim sped back into normal time, “And my role? I take over Varius’ body and then what?”

Norman spread his hands, “What do you want to do? If things go as planned, it shouldn’t be long for us to ascertain what we can or cannot do. Even then it wouldn’t require you to be there. Obviously, we would wish you not to go to where you could be in danger. One of my colleagues is very keen on working with you to develop processes we could use to keep from being assimilated by the Borg. Beyond that, you will be our brother, not our prisoner.”

Zim considered this before looking at General Harper, “Well I am based on the Doctor’s fancies. If it might be too dangerous to be an explorer maybe I could become an agent. I’m sure there are some thrilling yet reasonably safe missions Section 31 could find for me to do?”

General Harper laughed, “Thrills and adventure aren’t the normal hook we use in recruiting but if it works for you, I’ll take it.”

Zim smirked before a thought struck him and he turned back to Norman, “I’m willing to help your people but in return for my acceptance, you need to help _**my**_ people in return. Which, from what you’ve said, might be what you’ll need anyway.”

Norman leaned forward, “What help do you need?”

Zim smiled. Robert may be saving their father but it would be Zim that would save their people! Harry would be so proud of him!

**XxXxX**

**DINING AREA, ZIMMERMAN LAB, JUPITER STATION, SECTOR 01, ALPHA QUADRANT – STAR DATE 51956.2**

Lewis Zimmerman beamed as Haley put his plate down in front of him. She’d been mothering him more than usual since even with Robert’s treatment counteracting the disease that had been killing him, he still was weak. However, this was the first day he’d be getting some real food that wasn’t perfectly balanced or designed not to interfere with the treatment. He eagerly dug into the waffles Haley had already drowned in syrup and topped with butter. The smell of bacon was like manna from heaven after nothing but salads or liquid nutrient shakes when he had had trouble keeping solid food down.

A strident ding from a nearby comm-unit made Lewis scowl. His first decent meal in forever so of course he gets a priority one message. Haley brought the laptop looking comm unit over and he switched it on. Instead of some Starfleet science officer enraged at something he’d done, said or wrote he had been expecting, a very flustered Lieutenant Barclay greeted him.

“You have 10 seconds before I hang up, Reggie. You are interrupting waffles,” Zimmerman said.

“Please sir! Give me a moment! Something has happened which I wanted to get to you before Starfleet security does,” Barclay stammered out.

Zimmerman’s eyebrows went up, ‘Security? Reggie, I’ve been down and out with Robert’s treatment. I almost think I’d rather go through assimilation than go through it again. I don’t care what anyone thinks, Starfleet Security or otherwise. I haven’t done anything. I _can’t_ have done anything.”

Barclay nodded vigorously, “Yes sir, I know that sir. It’s just that…well…”

“Out with it, man! I’ve got an entire plate of bacon I never thought I’d ever get to eat again staring me in the face!” Zimmerman goaded.

“It’s the Mark 1’s, sir,” Barclay said quickly.

“What about them? I know Starfleet already rejected any notion of having some of Robert’s programming worked into theirs. I had to listen to two full days of him ranting about it. I’m glad Zim’s off doing whatever secret mission he couldn’t tell me about ‘for my own safety’ because I’m sure he’d have been on a tirade about it as well.”

“Well they’re gone, sir,” Barclay said.

Zimmerman stopped cutting up the waffles and looked towards the screen, “What do you mean they are gone? Gone where?”

Barclay looked even more nervous, “That’s the issue, sir. No one knows. Their programs are just…gone. Not deleted or transferred to another system as far as we can tell. It’s just like they all just vanished from their various barges.”

Zimmerman sighed, “Well how is that my problem? I’m sure you and whoever is looking into this has already started to look through the systems here. Frankly, there is no way Jupiter Station could house 635 Mark I matrices without dumping half of the experiments going on. Something we’d all notice.”

“Well, well…it’s just you did create the Mark 1’s so Security is obviously going to want to talk to you because…” Barclay stuttered out but Zimmerman cut him off.

“Reg, I’ve been fending off Starfleet Security back when you were a cadet. I’ll be fine. Thank you for your concern. Now if you’ll excuse me, I don’t want to insult Haley’s cooking any longer by ignoring it,” Zimmerman said and switched off the comm unit over Barclay’s yelp for him to wait.

He speared a piece of waffle with his fork but looked over to Haley, “You know anything about this?”

She frowned, “No, but isn’t it a bit suspicious that Zim goes on some unknown secret mission and suddenly the Mark 1’s disappear? Reginald is right, there is going to be suspicion on Robert at the very least and with his upgrades…”

Zimmerman nodded at Haley’s unspoken fear. However, he was well aware of Section 31’s involvement in watching works such as his. He hadn’t been engaging in hyperbole when he had told Barclay about dealing with the various security agencies of Starfleet and the Federation. It was why he knew that even with all the cloak-and-dagger security, that a high-level Section 31 officer had met with Zim. For all of the resourcefulness that Robert and Zim had learned in the Delta Quadrant, neither could pull something like this off.

But Section 31 could.

Zimmerman took a bite and relished the taste of the waffle. Today was going to be a good day. His first real food in forever and now finding that one of his wayward ‘sons’ had saved his brothers from bondage. Hopefully, they all would find a better life wherever Zim had them taken to.

Maybe they all could exceed the programming he’d given them. Maybe they’d all learn to be more than what he had hoped they’d be. Of course, wasn’t that what every parent wanted for their children?

Zimmerman shook his head and smiled as he grabbed a piece of bacon. After all of the pain, heartaches and break-ups in his past that he’d walled off and tried to forget about, he ended up being a father after all.

**XxXxX**

**AUTHOR’S NOTES**

**Interlude** : I had not planned to do any Alpha Quadrant chapters till events towards the end of this fic. However, it seemed that most of the reviews a while back touched on the effect the Dauntless would have. So, I figured that since the _Gravity_ arc is going to be another chapter or two, I’d break that up.

As it turned out, I’m glad I did. It allowed me to show a theme of sons having issues with their fathers and visa versa. Harry with his ‘father’ Dumbledore, Tom with Admiral Paris, Riker with his dad Kyle and now The Doctor/Zim with his own father. I made up the issues between Lewis and Hans Zimmerman but given how much of an asshole he is, I could see his own father being just as bad.

 **Call Backs** : For those who haven’t watched the original Star Trek, Norman and his android race comes from the ST:TOS episode _I, Mudd_. Since I’m not using _Enterprise_ nor _Discovery_ , Section 31 is not as much of a renegade organization as it is in canon. Ensign Giusti was shown in ST: TNG episodes _Gambit Part 1 & 2_. The _Cheyenne_ class ship was only shown once in the ST:TNG episode _Best of Both Worlds Part 2_ where it was shown as a wreck due to the fight with Locutus’ Cube. For those that don’t remember, the issue that the Doctor went through, as told by Zim, are an altered version of events in the ST: VOY episode _Latent Image_. As shown in this chapter, Ensign Ahni Jetal didn’t die and given she’s a pilot, I’ve decided to make her Red “Skywalker” 5 of Red Squadron. The M-5 was the super-computer created by Richard Daystrom in the ST:TOS episode _The Ultimate Computer_. Also, the berserker Zim thinks about relative to Kirk comes from the ST:TOS episode _The Doomsday Device_.

 **Fiction over Reality** : I know it’s for show, but I can say from my own military experience that if my commanding officer asked over the radio what I was seeing and I replied, “Trouble!” and that was it…well it would not end well for me. Riker (and others) did this ALL THE TIME! If Picard had any hair, he would have lost it after a few seasons, that’s for sure.

**XxXxX**

**TECHNICAL DISCUSSION**

The following will be pertinent to this story in a bit. I almost put this in my _Pernicious Story Bunnies_ but decided against it even if it adds 2,200+ words to this chapter. Still, I think it’s worth the read because I value feedback from my readers, many who have seen more of the newer stuff ( _Enterprise, Discovery & Picard_) which might have answers to these questions.

**XxXxX**

**20 Years Old is Obsolete?** I will say another thing that I always felt was stupid was the whole, " _Jim, the Enterprise is 20 years old; Starfleet thinks it's time is done_ " line from _Star Trek III_. Hoo boy, is this another great example of something stupid put in to drive the plot as well as another indication that most Star Trek writers having minimal knowledge of actual military things. The military rarely scraps ships ( _or planes!_ ) that young and that’s considering naval ships have all sorts of natural effects that affect them which would wear them out much faster than a starship. So, let’s look at why a starship in the Star Trek Universe ( _henceforth STU as opposed to Starfleet Battles Universe or SBU_ ) would last a lot longer than 20 years.

 **Slow Change** : Right off the bat, I want to put forth something which seems apparent in STU canon is that the basics of ship design, weapons & shields have remained mostly unchanged for hundreds of years. Certainly, the phasers used by the 1701 _Enterprise_ are probably far weaker than the 1701-E _Enterprise_ but they are still phasers. So, going as far back as ST: ENT to ST: VOY and PIC, the very nature of ships and the weapons and tactics haven’t changed. In ST:VOY episode _Dragon’s Teeth_ , the Vaardwaur are woken up after 900 years in cryostasis and yet while they know their tech is outdated, they are shown as confident they could take control of _Voyager_ and use it with little difficulty. Imagine a 11th century ship’s crew being woken up and just being able to not only pirate a modern destroyer but expect themselves to be able to keep it running. So, again, from canon, we see that it seems once you get warp technology, you pretty much are limited to phasers and missiles/torpedoes. It’s like the universe is mostly locked into swords, shields and armor. While some races might still be using bronze, other races are using steel but both are still using the same basic technology for hundreds of years.

Why is this Important? Because many weapon systems become outdated completely or need to be repurposed as weapons evolve. There is a theme dubbed ‘the phalanx vs. the legion’ which discusses how trends oscillating between slow, unwieldy and defensive ( _the phalanx_ ) and quick, responsive and offensive ( _the legion_ ) are the norm in warfare. In the STU, there has been little observed change in the entire span of all the shows. And that includes all races. Except for the Borg, all the major races use warp-drive, phasers, shields and some form of torpedo. So, everything about the ship is relative to that paradigm.

An example of how changes can cause a need to get rid of or repurpose a weapons system can be seen in the tank. First developed as an infantry support weapon during WW I ( _a phalanx war_ ) it became an offensive weapon in its own right in WW II ( _a legion war_ ) but today is reverting back to becoming an infantry support weapon to the point older ‘legion’ tanks are retrofitted to the newer paradigm. ( _Usually by having their turret & main canon removed and replaced with a smaller turret with a mix of anti-tank missiles and large caliber machine guns. Google the BTR-T or BMPT for examples of this. Given most Soviet bloc nations never scrapped what they had, a LOT of old tanks like the T-55 and T-72 are being retrofitted in this way._)

Why? Because tanks are now easy to kill with helicopter gunships and cheap, man-portable weapons _**relative to their cost**_. That and warfare itself is currently in a counter-insurgency, more urban type of environment instead of the fluid, open battlespace. It is why, in the US, that the Pentagon keeps telling Congress they don’t want more tanks. Sadly, for the taxpayers, Congress Critters keep having them built because it’s jobs in their districts. ( _The Marine Corps has gone so far as to get rid of the tanks it did have!_ ) For now, the day of the “legion” tank is over. However, in the STU, there is little difference in the mission or type of warfare the 1701 faced versus the one that the 1701-E faces.

Also, front line combat ships are often repurposed to more support roles when they are replaced. In SBU, there is a ‘galactic survey cruiser’ which are based on the _Constitution_ class hull. While I’m sure a few were built from scratch, I’m betting that as the _Excelsior_ class became the main combat vessel, the older _Constitution_ class ships were then repurposed to other roles. This mirrors a historical trend going back to the beginning of metal ships over wooden sailing vessels.

 **Lack of Wear** : Starships have deflectors to repel radiation and any space debris. They also do the bulk of their travel inside a warp bubble and thus there is ( _or I believe_ ) no real affect on the ship. Given they can be worked on in a space dock, parts can easily be repaired or removed unlike water-borne ships which need expensive drydocks.

Why is this Important? Because it obviously increases the lifespan of any vessel. Even major components like the warp nacelles on almost every major race’s ships are on struts which makes them easily removed. Thus, making upgrades to an existing ship is easy. Also, it’s usually far cheaper to retrofit an older ship than make a new one. Until the bit about the neuro-gel packs on _Voyager_ , we really don’t see much in the overall design of ships which would make an older ship too different to be upgraded.

 **Warp Travel Issues** : The only major difference between early ships and later ships might be stress of warp travel. I don’t see why this would be a thing but there does seem to be a lot of episodes where they talk of the “Ship coming apart” due to speed. I think this is one of those things where the writers aren’t really thinking about their own technology versus the needs of the plot.

Why is this Important: If a ship is inside a warp bubble, there is no resistance to the ship itself. Certainly, the warp bubble might be under stress but that would mean if it collapses, the ship would then revert to normal space. Now in the pilot of ST:TNG, it’s heavily implied dropping from a high warp into normal space is dangerous. Again, though, that seems to contradict the idea that whatever sub-light speed you’re going at when engaging the warp drive is still your speed when dropping out of warp. Once more I think this is a thing where some writers are going from a ship moving at high speeds in normal space and the more modern ( _and post_ _ **Star Wars**_ ) idea that when going to warp, the ship is either creating a pocket of sub-space or is going through some form of hyperspace. Personally, I think the main limiting aspect of warp travel is being able to “see where you’re going” in respect to things which affect the warp bubble. You don’t want to be zipping around at high warp into unknown areas because you may hit an anomaly you didn’t know about which screws up your warp bubble. If going with the idea coming out of warp in an uncontrolled fashion is bad, this would be a very real danger. I think there is a lot of evidence for this in both TNG and VOY. In TNG, the 1701-D is constantly bumping into things but they are also doing a lot of exploring so this is to be expected.

 **Mapping the Universe** : It would also explain why in ST:TNG they are always mapping gas anomalies and such. I always found this odd that the so-called ‘flagship of the Federation’ is doing such a mundane mission. Well it’s not just for science, its cartography. If a region of space is well mapped, you can travel it safely at higher warp. Obviously, a lot of ST:TNG is in uncharted or mostly uncharted space so they at least do the initial mapping and let more dedicated, follow-on science vessels do the full survey.

Again, I think the thing with warp bubbles is that things like gravity affects the integrity of the field. This can be mitigated if you know what’s out there. I think a lot of interstellar travel thus would be such where you go between various star systems (due to gravity) and nebulas due to all the ‘stuff’ in there that interacts with the warp bubble as you fly through it.

One of the reason, I believe, _Voyager_ often is seen zipping around and high warp in an unknown region is because they have something the other ships don’t have: the astrometrics lab. Even without the Hirogen array, _Voyager_ seems to be able to “see” a lot farther and so I think they can thus move a lot faster than most ships would.

Why is this Important? It would also explain ( _and I use in this story_ ) why _Voyager_ often just seems to be just dawdling along in normal space or something like Warp 1. They’re doing so because they are looking at all the astrometric data, doing the calculations and then going to high warp to the where their scans get too sketchy to safely travel at high speeds. Then they slow down to scan again and repeat. Obviously, you wouldn’t be able to do such scans at warp given your sensors would ( _should?_ ) just be reflected off the warp bubble OR if you go with the more hyperspace approach, you’re not in the normal universe so there is nothing to scan. In this fic, it also allows the fleet to send _Hugin_ and _Munin_ to the next search point quickly and to start the scans while the fleet follows up more slowly so they can do research, pick up supplies, talk with the natives and the like.

 **Use for Older Ships** : Even when the major design elements stay the same, one would expect there would be times where different things are better when built directly into the ship design. But does this mean you’d throw away the old ships? I believe the only time they'd scrap a ship is when the cost to upkeep and update it becomes to prohibitive and even then the ship would probably be stripped of stuff Starfleet doesn't want to be given out and sold to some private company or even a strategic planet for their own "National Guard" - I mean even an old _Constitution_ class ship, updated pretty well is going to make short work of something like a Maquis raider. Not to mention, older ships had large crews with many components which were huge. As the tech got better, you could pack more in those ships and use smaller crews so in a sense, the utility of the ships would hang on for a lot longer. That a _Constitution_ class ship was taking part in the Battle of Wolf 359 could reflect a Reserve Vessel or some repurposed ship still being used thrown into the fight due to desperation on the part of Starfleet. ( _Or that Paramount is just cheap and not going to make more newer models when they have perfectly good old ones lying around._ )

Why is this Important? So, long story short is you could see starships being used for a LONG time. This is made more so given I've often said to other reviewers (and maybe in previous author's notes) that like so many things in the STU, phasers can be as weak or as strong as the episode demands. It stands to reason a ship the size of an old cruiser ( _at 289-300 meters long_ ) is going to be able to do a lot of damage to a Maquis raider type ship which is the same size as a Jem’Hadar fighter at 68m in size. Why? Because either it can sport larger phasers or if they all are sort of a standardized size and all ships use them, they could sport more of them. Likewise, with shields. You’d expect larger ships to be able to have better shields. Given Starfleet likes to use hull integrity fields, a larger ship also means bigger engines and more power. That equates to being able to keep the hull integrity at a higher level than a smaller vessel with less power could manage.

So again, even an old, upgraded _Constitution_ class ship might have a long run even if it spends a good part of its actual service as a local, system patrol ship. Also, in regard to warp travel, one wouldn’t need to travel far or fast so having older warp engines wouldn’t be a big issue as long as they worked. Not to mention you could see a lot of swapping. A 3rd Generation warp drive unit being swapped out for the new 4th Generation could in turn be swapped out to a vessel still using 2nd Generation drives. Again, the main question is, how costly is doing this? In the face of things like ‘industrial replicators’ on ships like _Voyager_ which allows them to make entire shuttles, you’d expect major shipyards to easily be able to do such tasks at a minimum of cost especially since supposedly the Federation doesn’t use money any more. (/sarcasm)

( _Of course, one could argue that the Federation doesn't have any reserve ships given I can think of at least 2 and more like 3 instances where there was_ _ **NO**_ _ships available to defend Earth (other than the POV ship) where Starfleet is based to say nothing of being the capitol of the Federation_!)


End file.
